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I.  ft  M.  OTTENHEIMER,  PUBLISHERS, 
ill  W.  BALTIMORE  ftT.  BALTIMORE  Ma 


JAMES  BOYS 


DEEDS  OF  DARING 


ly  JAMES  EDGAR 


A    COMPLETE    RECORD    OF    THEIR     LIVES    AND    DEATHS^ 

NARRATING  MANY  OF  THEIR  STIRRING  ADVENTURES, 

WHICH  HAVE  ONLY  RECENTLY  COME  TO  LIGHT, 

AND    WHICH     HAVE    NEVER    APPEARED 

IN    PRINT    BEFORE 

COMPILED   IN    THEIR    HOME    STATE — MISSOU» 


Copyright,  1911,  by  I.  &  "M.  Ottenheimer 


I.  &  M.  OTTENHEIMER 

Publishers 
<|1  West  Baltimore  St.  BALTIMORE,  Mp, 


PREFACE 

i 

Stories  of  the  life  of  the  highwayman,  bandit  and  train- 
robber,  with  the  romance  of  deadly  adventure  entwined  about 
bis  life,  hare  ever  fascinated  the  novelist  and  reader  alike, 
and  the  tales  of  his  daring  have  ever  proven  of  absorbing  in- 
terest to  both  young  and  old,  despite  the  fact  that  his  deeds 
were  criminal,  and  on  the  principal  of  '  'the  mills  of  the  gods 
grind  slowly,  but  they  grind  exceedingly  fine/'  his  punish- 
ment by  imprisonment  or  death  surely  awaits  him  at  the  end 
of  hig  career. 

Robin  Hood  and  his  merry  band  of  robbers  of  Nottingham 
Forest  have  been  the  theme  of  song  and  story  for  a  century 
or  mere.  Dick  Turpin  and  Jack  Sheppard,  the  dashing  high- 
waymen,  have  furnished  material  for  many  tales  of  romance 
and  daring.  Captain  Kidd  and  Blackboard,  the  pirates,  have 
furnished  material  for  volumes  of  thrilling  reading,  and  so 
through  all  times  and  ages  the  desperado  has  alike  horrified  and 
fascinated,  in  many  instances  combining  some  good  with  bad 
in  the  reving,  dangerous  life  he  led. 

Among  all  the  annals  of  soul -stirring  adventure  and  des- 
perate achievements  in  the  history  of  the  highwaymea  of 
the  world  the  James  Brothers— Jesse  and  Frank— undoubt- 
edly stand  at  the  head.  They  committed  more  daring  rob- 
beries than  all  the  other  outlaws  of  the  world  combined,  and 
while  they  lived,  a  perfect  reign  of  terror  prevailed 
those  whem  circumstances  placed  them  at  Oftdr  mercy. 

But  the  last  ef  the  bad  men  of  the  West  have  passed 
away.  Nevermore  wffl  tfce  equal  of  the  James  Boys  be  heard 
of  again.  This  latest  and  perhaps  last  book  of  their  lives 
wffl  recount  m  new  form  many  of  their  famous  accomplish- 
ments as  robbers  of  high  degree,  and  win  perpetuate  some 
of  their  deeds  which  have  come  to  Hght  of  recent  years  and 
which  have  not  appeared  in  print  before.  It  wiB  appear 
in  the  form  of  a  galaxy  of  short  stories— now  so  popuiar  with 
magazine  readers— each  a  complete  narrative  IB  itself;  an 
act  from  tbe  drama  of  ma> We,  which  is  stranger  than  fiction. 


JAMES  BOYS  DEEDS  OF  DARING 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  JAMES  BOYS'  EARLY  HISTORY. 

BIRTHPLACE   OF    THE   FAMOUS    OUTLAWS   AND   THE    HIS- 
TORY   OF    THEIR    EARLY    CHILDHOOD    AND    GROWTH    TO 

MANHOOD THEY    WERE    A    PREACHER'S    SONS HOW 

THEY  BECAME  OUTLAWS  IN  THE  WEST. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  James  Boys — Frank 
and  Jesse — the  most  desperate  and  murderous  of  all 
bandits,  were  the  sons  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel, 
whose  early  training  of  them  was  of  the  best  and 
/hose  home  influences  were  in  no  manner  such  as 
vvould  have  set  them  on  a  bad  career. 

Frank  was  the  oldest  of  the  two  and  was  born  in 
Scott  county,  Kentucky,  in  1845.  ^s  folks  later 
moved  to  Clay  county,  Missouri,  where  Jesse  was  born 
in  1849.  Before  he  was  a  year  old  his  father  became 
enthused  with  the  gold  fever,  and,  bidding  his  little 
family  good-bye,  went  west  to  seek  his  fortune.  He 
never  returned,  but  died  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  His 
name  was  the  Rev.  Robert  James  and  he  was  a  regu- 
larly ordained  minister  of  the  Baptist  faith. 

But  though  he  was  responsible  for  these  inhuman 
9 


10  JAMES   BOYS 

plunderers  of  their  fellow-men  being  brought  into  ex- 
istence, he  was  in  no  way  responsible  for  their  educa- 
tion in  the  school  of  crime,  or  the  shaping  of  their 
desperate  characters. 

It  were  idle  to  discuss  what  might  have  been  the 
career  of  Frank  and  Jesse  James  had  not  death  de- 
prived them  of  a  father's  care  and  admonition  in  early 
infancy.  From  what  little  is  known  of  the  life  and 
character  of  that  father  it  is  safe  to  conclude  that  it 
would  have  made  but  little  if  any  difference  to  the 
boys;  for  the  mother  was  the  ruling  spirit  in  that 
household,  and  in  any  event  would  have  exerted  the 
dominant  influence  in  shaping  the  characters  of  her 
sons. 

An  old  proverb  says,  "Like  father,  like  son,"  but 
history  establishes  the  fact  that  most  of  the  remark- 
able men  that  the  world  has  produced  received  their 
characters  from  their  mother.  Frank  and  Jesse  James 
were  no  exception  to  the  rule. 

In  many  respects  Mrs.  Zerelda  Cole  James  was  a 
remarkable  woman,  and  it  is  probably  as  natural  that 
she  should  have  given  birth  to  Frank  and  Jesse  James 
as  that  Cornelia,  the  famous  Roman  matron,  should 
have  been  the  mother  of  the  Gracchi. 

Mrs.  James  has  been  represented  by  certain  self- 
styled  "compilers"  of  the  lives  and  exploits  of  the 
James  boys  as  being  little  short  of  a  brutal,  uncivilized 
Amazon.  Such  misrepresentation  is  uncalled  for  as 
it  is  untrue.  No  one  who  knows  anything  about  the 
personal  life  and  character  of  the  noted  bandits' 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  II 

mother  would  make  any  such  outrageous,  because  un- 
founded, assertion. 

Mrs.  James  belonged  to  a  respectable  and  well-to-do 
family,  and  though  by  no  means  a  model  of  meekness, 
she  could  not  truthfully  be  called  a  termagant. 

While  she  could  not  be  considered  of  a  refined  and 
gentle  disposition,  she  had  the  reputation  among  her 
neighbors  of  being  a  kind  and  helpful  friend  and  an 
affectionate  and  only  too  indulgent  mother. 

If,  like  the  famous  Roman  matron,  her  character 
was  cast  in  an  iron  mold,  and  her  temper  and  bearing 
were  stern  and  imperious,  so  too,  like  the  Roman 
mother,  she  idolized  her  sons  and  in  her  heart  said  of 
them,  "These  are  my  jewels."  Indeed,  so  wrapped  up 
in  her  boys  was  she  that  she  believed  that,  like  a  king, 
they  could  do  no  wrong. 

This  rare  but  misplaced  confidence  which  their 
mother  had  in  them  was  fully  reciprocated  by  them, 
for  although  no  matter  how  bad  they  became,  they 
always  respected  and  loved  her  whom  was  responsible 
for  their  being.  This  was  their  one  virtue,  linked  as 
it  was  with  a  thousand  crimes. 

Being  left  by  the  death  of  her  husband  with  a  family 
of  four  children,  two  boys  and  two  girls,  to  provide 
for  single  handed,  Mrs.  James  had  to  struggle  pretty 
hard  for  a  number  of  years.  She  sent  the  children  to 
school,  and  did  the  best  she  knew  how  to  train  them 
up  in  the  way  they  should  go.  But  as  she  lacked  ten- 
derness and  feeling  herself,  she  failed  to  inspire  it  in 
her  children,  the  boys  especially. 


12  JAMES   BOYS 

Then  came  the  outbreaks  among  the  mountaineers, 
who  formed  themselves  into  factions,  and  between 
which  factions  feuds  ensued.  The  seeds  of  the  war 
were  brewing  and  the  hearts  of  the  young  James  boys 
became  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  war. 

Everybody  in  the  border  counties  sided  with  one  or 
the  other  party  of  marauders.  The  excitement  was 
intense.  The  mother  of  the  James  Boys  was  distinctly 
Southern  in  her  sentiments,  and  her  boys  were  with 
her  "tooth  and  toenail"  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and 
Rrank  and  Jesse  James  were  among  the  first  to  join 
the  guerrillas. 

At  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  in  1861,  the  border 
warfare  increased  in  virulency,  and  the  sympathizers 
were  forced  into  extreme  measures.  The  "Border 
Ruffians"  were  now  termed  guerrillas,  among  the 
most  noted  of  whose  leaders  was  Charles  William 
Quantrell. 

Quantrell  is  said  to  have  been  the  most  heartless, 
blood-thirsty  marauder  that  ever  lived  in  any  country. 

As  Frank  and  Jesse  James  were  introduced  to  guer- 
rilla life  and  started  on  their  career  of  crime  by  this 
celebrated  guerrilla  chieftain,  it  may  be  of  interest  to 
the  reader  to  know  something  of  his  history  and  the 
causes  which  made  him  the  inhuman  dare-devil  ruffian 
he  was. 

Charles  William  Quantrell  was  born  in  Hagerstown, 
Maryland,  July  20,  1836.  While  Charles  was  yet  a 
boy  in  his  teens  his  father  died,  and  shortly  afterward 
the  family  moved  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  Charles 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  13 

and  a  brother  several  years  older  attended  school. 
Shortly  after  they  arrived  in  Cleveland  the  mother 
didd ;  the  older  brother  moved  to  Kansas,  but  Charles 
continued  to  attend  school  in  the  Ohio  city.  For  sev- 
eral years  he  paid  his  way  in  Cleveland  by  doing  odd 
jobs  out  of  school  hours,  and  was  progressing  finely 
in  his  studies.  His  habits  were  good  and  he  was  re- 
spected by  all  who  knew  him.  In  1856  his  brother 
-wrote  him  from  Kansas  that  he  was  about  to  start  on 
a  trip  to  California  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  new 
Eldorado  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  he  would  like  to 
have  Charles  accompany  him.  Although  much  at- 
tached to  his  friends  in  Cleveland,  and  anxious  to  com- 
plete his  education  in  the  splendid  schools  of  that  city, 
Charles  had  such  affection  and  confidence  in  his 
brother  that  he  could  not  resist  the  latter's  appeal.  So, 
bidding  his  friends  and  schoolmates  good-bye,  young 
Quantrell  joined  his  older  brother  in  Kansas. 

The  exciting  accounts  of  the  dare-devil  doings  of 
Quantrell  and  his  chosen  band  of  guerrillas,  which 
the  papers  published  with  glaring  headlines  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  sent  a  thrill  of  feverish 
excitement  through  the  nation,  and  many  a  youth  in 
Missouri  burned  to  be  enrolled  under  the  folds  of  the 
black  flag  of  Quantrell's  guerrillas. 

Jesse  James  was  among  them.  His  brother  Frank 
was  already  with  Quantrell.  Jesse  made  repeated  and 
persistent  efforts  to  join  the  band,  but  was  rejected 
by  Quantrell  on  account  of  his  youth,  he  being  then 
but  little  over  fourteen  years  of  age. 


14  JAMES  BOYS 

The  sympathies  of  his  mother  and  step-father,  Dr. 
Samuels,  whom  she  had  recently  married,  were  all 
with  the  South.  Mrs.  Samuels,  especially,  was  loyal 
to  the  Confederacy.  By  various  means  she  managed 
to  learn  of  the  movements  of  the  Union  troops,  and 
whenever  the  information  was  important  she  would 
mount  Jesse  upon  a  fleet  horse  and  send  him  to  Quan- 
trell.  So  open  and  obnoxious  was  Mrs.  Samuels  in 
her  demonstrations  to  Southern  love  that  the  Federal 
militiamen  began  to  notice  it.  From  mere  notice  sus- 
picion was  aroused. 

Her  house  was  watched  and  it  became  known  that 
several  secret  midnight  conclaves  had  been  held  there. 
The  part  played  by  Jesse  and  the  open  and  decided 
expressions  frequently  made  by  Dr.  Samuels  and  his 
decidedly  demonstrative  wife  greatly  excited  the  Fed- 
eral soldiers,  and  it  was  determined  to  make  an  ex- 
ample of  the  family.  Accordingly,  in  June,  1862,  a 
company  of  Missouri  militia  approached  the  Samuels 
homestead,  which  is  near  Kearney,  in  Gay  county, 
and,  first  meeting  Dr.  Samuels,  they  addressed  him  in 
language  that  could  leave  no  doubt  in  his  mind  that 
they  meant  to  carry  affairs  to  the  bitter  end.  It  was 
in  vain  he  pleaded  that  he  was  leading  a  peaceful 
farmer's  life,  and  didn't  desire  to  be  mixed  up  in  the 
strife  of  the  time.  They  told  him — what  he  knew 
much  better  than  th«y  did— that  he  and  his  whole 
family  were  in  secret  alliance  with  Quantrell  and  his 
followers.  Frank  was  at  the  camp,  Susie  was  away 
from  home,  Jeate  was  plowing  in  the  fields.  Mrs. 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  15 

Samuels  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.     But  she  saw  all 
that  was  going  on,  just  the  same. 

They  had  not  come  unprepared  for  their  work.  A 
strong  rope  was  produced,  with  which  he  was  se- 
curely pinioned,  and  then  led  away  from  the  house  a 
distance  of  about  one  hundred  yard*.  Here  the  rope 
was  fastened  in  a  noose  around  his  neck,  while  the 
other  end  was  thrown  over  the  limb  of  a  tree,  and 
several  men  hastily  drew  him  up  and  left  him  sus- 
pended to  choke  to  death.  Mrs.  Samuels,  however, 
had  followed  stealthily,  and  the  moment  the  militia 
had  departed  she  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  her  hus- 
band, whom  she  hastily  cut  down,  and  by  patient  nurs- 
ing brought  him  back  to  life.  The  James  Boys  made 
good  their  escape  before  the  invaders  could  capture 
them,  but  determined  on  revenge,  and  to  get  it  was 
ever  afterward  their  constant  thought. 

When  Quantrell  organized  his  band  of  Border  Ruf- 
fians to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  brother  he  never 
dreamed  that  he  would  ever  have  to  fight  the  soldiers 
of  the  United  States  in  addition  to  the  murderous  Jay- 
hawkers.  But  when  the  Civil  War  began  the  Jay- 
hawkers,  being  Abolitionists,  were  all  ranged  on  the 
side  of  the  Union,  while  the  "Ruffians,"  being1  pro- 
slavery,  sided  with  the  South,  and  Quantrell  and  his 
bamd  found  themselves  more  often  pitted  against  the 
boys  in  blue  than  against  the  Jayhawkers. 

The  guerrilla  chieftain  accepted  the  situation, 
however,  without  faltering  in  the  least,  and  entered 
the  service  of  the  Confederacy  with  greatest  enthu- 


14  JAMB6  BOYS 

The  sympathies  of  his  mother  and  step- father,  Dr. 
Samuels,  whom  she  had  recently  married,  were  all 
with  the  South.  Mrs.  Samuels,  especially,  was  loyal 
to  the  Confederacy.  By  various  means  she  managed 
to  learn  of  the  movements  of  the  Union  troops,  and 
whenever  the  information  was  important  she  would 
mount  Jesse  upon  a  fleet  horse  and  send  him  to  Quan- 
trell.  So  open  and  obnoxious  was  Mrs.  Samuels  in 
her  demonstrations  to  Southern  love  that  the  Federal 
militiamen  began  to  notice  it.  From  mere  notice  sus- 
picion was  aroused. 

Her  house  was  watched  and  it  became  known  that 
several  secret  midnight  conclaves  had  been  held  there. 
The  part  played  by  Jesse  and  the  open  and  decided 
expressions  frequently  made  by  Dr.  Samuels  and  his 
decidedly  demonstrative  wife  greatly  excited  the  Fed- 
eral soldiers,  and  it  was  determined  to  make  an  ex- 
ample of  the  family.  Accordingly,  in  June,  1862,  a 
company  of  Missouri  militia  approached  the  Samuels 
homestead,  which  is  near  Kearney,  in  Gay  county, 
and,  first  meeting  Dr.  Samuels,  they  addressed  him  in 
language  that  could  leave  no  doubt  in  his  mind  that 
they  meant  to  carry  affairs  to  the  bitter  end.  It  was 
in  vain  he  pleaded  that  he  was  leading  a  peaceful 
farmer's  life,  and  didn't  desire  to  be  mixed  up  in  the 
strife  of  the  time.  They  told  him — what  he  knew 
much  better  than  they  did— that  he  and  his  whole 
family  were  in  secret  alliance  with  Quantrell  and  his 
followers.  Frank  was  at  the  camp,  Susie  was  away 
from  home,  Jewe  was  plowing  in  the  fialds.  Mrs. 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  15 

Samuels  was  nowhere  to  be  seen.     But  she  saw  all 
that  was  going  on,  just  the  same. 

They  had  not  come  unprepared  for  their  work.  A 
strong  rope  was  produced,  with  which  he  was  se- 
curely pinioned,  and  then  led  away  from  the  house  a 
distance  of  about  one  hundred  yards.  Here  the  rope 
was  fastened  in  a  noose  around  his  neck,  while  the 
other  end  was  thrown  over  the  limb  of  a  tree,  and 
several  men  hastily  drew  him  up  and  left  him  sus- 
pended to  choke  to  death.  Mrs.  Samuels,  however, 
had  followed  stealthily,  and  the  moment  the  militia 
had  departed  she  rushed  to  the  rescue  of  her  hus- 
band, whom  she  hastily  cut  down,  and  by  patient  nurs- 
ing brought  him  back  to  life.  The  James  Boys  made 
good  their  escape  before  the  invaders  could  capture 
them,  but  determined  on  revenge,  and  to  get  it  was 
ever  afterward  their  constant  thought. 

When  Quantrell  organized  his  band  of  Border  Ruf- 
fians to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  brother  he  never 
dreamed  that  he  would  ever  have  to  fight  the  soldiers 
of  the  United  States  in  addition  to  the  murderous  Jay- 
hawkers.  But  when  the  Civil  War  began  the  Jay- 
hawkers,  being  Abolitionists,  were  all  ranged  on  the 
side  of  the  Union,  while  the  "Ruffians,"  being  pro- 
slavery,  sided  with  the  South,  and  Quantrell  and  his 
band  found  themselves  more  often  pitted  against  the 
boys  in  blue  than  against  the  Jayhawkers. 

The  guerrilla  chieftain  accepted  the  situation, 
however,  without  faltering  in  the  least,  and  entered 
the  service  of  the  Confederacy  with  greatest  enthu- 


l6  JAMES   BOYS 

siasm.  Up  to  the  time  when  young  Jesse  James  was 
accepted  as  a  member  of  the  band  the  guerrillas  had 
been  engaged  in  but  few  skirmishes,  their  services 
consisting  chiefly  in  small  foraging  expeditions, 
making  themselves  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the 
topography  of  the  country,  preparatory  to  engaging 
in  more  effective  measures. 

The  town  of  Richfield,  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  Missouri  River,  was  occupied  by  a  squad  of 
thirty  Federal  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  Cap- 
tain Sessions.  Quantrell  determined  to  attack  this 
garrison,  and  detailed  a  small  company  of  his  most 
intrepid  guerrillas  to  make  a  dashing  raid  on  the 
town. 

Frank  and  Jesse  James  were  among  the  number, 
Frank  James  leading  the  attack. 

The  garrison  was  taken  by  surprise  and  a  des- 
perate conflict  ensued. 

Ten  of  the  Federals  were  killed,  including  Cap- 
tain Sessions,  and  the  remainder  taken  prisoners. 

When  the  attacking  party  returned  to  their  com- 
pany Jesse  James  was  sent  out  with  orders  from 
Quaatrell  to  scour  the  counties  adjoining  Clay  and 
locate  the  militia. 

After  passing  through  Clinton  county  he  paid  a 
short  visit  to  his  mother,  who  received  him  with 
many  manifestations  of  pleasure,  and  then  began  to 
unload  herself  of  the  valuable  information  she  had 
gathered  for  the  benefit  of  the  guerrillas.  She  told 
him  that  the  attack  on  Richfield  had  resulted  in 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  I£ 

massing  the  militia  for  a  determined  stroke,  and  that 
the  troops  were  concentrating  near  that  point ;  that 
Plattsburg  had  been  almost  entirely  relieved  of  its 
garrison  and  would  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  guerril- 
las if  they  chose  to  profit  by  the  opportunity. 

Jesse  lost  no  time  in  communicating  the  situation 
to  Quantrell,  and,  accordingly,  three  days  after  the 
capture  of  the  squad  of  militiamen  at  Richfield  Cap- 
tain Scott  took  fifteen  men  and  silently  stole  upon 
Plattsburg,  which  he  found  defended  by  less  than  a 
score  of  Federals. 

Shortly  after  the  scheme  materialized  to  sack  the 
town  of  Lawrence,  Kansas.  Quantrell  consulted 
with  his  chief  lieutenants,  the  James  boys,  and  they 
heartily  backed  him  up  in  the  scheme,  Quantrell 
did  not  neglect  to  inform  his  followers  of  the  danger 
such  an  undertaking  involved;  that  their  road 
would  be  infested  with  militia,  the  forces  of  which 
would  be  daily  augmented  when  the  first  intimation 
of  the  purposes  of  the  guerrillas  should  be  made 
known ;  that  it  would  be  ceaseless  fighting  and 
countless  hardships,  and  many  would  be  left  upon 
the  prairies  to  fester  in  the  sun.  He  then  called  his 
command  to  arms  and  acquainted  every  man  with 
the  decision  in  the  following  speech :  "Fellow-sol- 
diers, a  consultation  just  held  with  several  of  my 
comrades  has  resulted  in  a  decision  that  we  break 
camp  tomorrow  and  take  up  a  line  of  march  for 
Lawrence,  Kansas;  that  we  attack  that  town,  and. 
if  pressed  too  hard,  lav  it  in  ashes.  This  undertak- 


IS  JAMES   BOYS 

ing,  let  me  assure  yon,  is  hazardous  in  the  extreme. 
The  territory  through  which  we  must  pass  is  full  of 
enemies,  and  the  entire  way  will  be  beset  by  well- 
armed  men,  through  whom  it  will  be  necessary  for 
us  to  carve  our  way.  I  know  full  well  that  there  is 
not  a  man  in  my  command  who  fears  a  foe ;  that  no 
braver  force  ever  existed  than  it  is  my  honor  to 
lead;  but  you  have  never  encountered  danger  so 
great  as  we  will  have  to  meet  on  our  way  to  Law- 
rence; therefore,  let  me  say  to  you,  without  doubt- 
ing in  the  least  your  heroism,  if  there  are  any  in  my 
command  who  would  prefer  not  to  stake  their  lives 
in  such  a  dangerous  attempt,  let  them  step  outside 
the  ranks." 

At  the  conclusion  of  Quantrell's  remarks  a  shout 
went  up  from  every  man,  "On  to  Lawrence !"  Not 
a  face  blanched,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was 
but  one  desire,  to  lay  waste  the  city  on  the  Kaw. 

On  the  following  day  the  order  was  given  to 
"mount,"  and  with  that  dreadful  black  flag  stream- 
ing over  their  heads  the  command,  two  hundred 
strong,  turned  their  faces  to  the  west.  As  they 
crossed  the  Kansas  line  at  the  small  town  of  Au- 
brey, in  Johnson  county,  Quantrell  compelled  three 
men,  whom  he  found  sitting  in  front  of  a  small  store 
kept  by  John  Beeson,  to  accompany  him  as  guides. 

The  command  passed  through  Johnson  county 
midway  between  Olathe  and  Spring  Hill,  and 
through  the  northern  part  of  Franklin  county. 
When  they  reached  Cole  creek,  eight  miles  from 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  19 

Lawrence,  the  three  guides  were  taken  into  a  clump 
of  thick  woods  and  shot  by  Jesse  and  Frank  James. 

One  of  the  party,  an  elderly  man,  begged  piteous- 
ty  to  be  spared,  reminding  his  executioners  that  he 
had  never  done  them  any  wrong,  but  his  prayers 
for  mercy  ended  in  the  death  rattle  as  a  bullet  went 
crashing  through  his  neck. 

Quantrell  had  been  agreeably  mistaken  concern- 
ing the  resistance  he  expected  to  encounter.  Not  a 
foe  had  yet  appeared,  but  he  never  permitted  a  per- 
son to  pass  him  alive.  No  less  than  twenty-five 
persons  whom  he  met  in  the  highway  after  getting 
into  Kansas  had  been  shot,  and  yet  he  avoided  the 
public  roads  as  much  as  possible. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  August  21  Quantrell  and 
his  band  came  in  sight  of  the  fated  town.  The  sun 
was  just  straggling  above  the  undulations  of  the 
prairie  and  the  people  of  the  place  were  beginning 
to  resume  the  duties  of  a  newly-born  day. 

With  a  cry  which  froze  the  blood  of  everyone  in 
the  town  who  heard  it,  Quantrell  and  his  two  hun- 
dred followers  descended  upon  the  place  with  pistol, 
sword  and  firebrand.  Their  work  of  devastation 
soon  completed,  they  moved  on  other  scenes  of  war 
and  bloodshed.  ^ 

Quantrell  was  the  most  heartless  of  all.  What 
cared  he  for  the  glory  won  to  his  name  by  the  sack- 
ing of  the  unprotected  and  defenseless  city?  It 
woukl  bring  him  not  fame,  but  infamy.  And,  in- 


2O  JAMES  BOYS 

deed,  because  of  that  inhuman  act  he  has  ever  since 
been  known  as  "Butcher  Quantrell." 

Disgusted  with  the  extent  of  their  own  hellish 
propensities,  Quantrell  and  his  band  of  murderers 
hastily  retraced  their  steps,  but  they  were  terribly 
harassed  during  the  entire  return  march  by  the 
Kansas  militia  and  federal  troops  that  hurriedly 
concentrated  and  went  in  pursuit  of  them. 

Just  how  many  men  engaged  in  this  pursuit  of 
the  retreating  guerrillas  is  not  definitely  known,  but 
the  force  has  been  reliably  estimated  at  fully  seven 
thousand,  and  nothing  but  hard  marching,  deter- 
mined fighting  and  an  endurance  that  has  never  been 
equaled  saved  the  guerrillas  from  total  destruction. 
At  Black  Jack,  about  fifteen  miles  from  Lawrence, 
a  stand  was  made,  and  some  brisk  fighting  occurred. 
The  guerrillas  took  to  cover  in  a  large  barn  which 
stood  at  the  edge  of  an  orchard. 

Several  assaults  were  made  to  dislodge  them,  but 
in  vain.  The  horses  of  the  guerrillas  were  suffering 
severely,  however,  and  realizing  that  without  horses 
they  would  be  unable  to  get  out  of  .Kansas,  the 
guerrillas  made  a  desperate  charge,  in  which  thirty- 
two  of  the  militia  were  killed,  and  a  panic  was  the 
result.  But  the  guerrillas  did  not  care  to  follow  up 
the  victory,  as  every  moment  was  precious.  The 
militia  were  swarming  and  closing  in  upon  them 
rapidly,  and  it  was  only  by  the  rarest  stroke  of  for- 
tune tha^$  Quantrell  and  his  men  ever  es'eaped  from 
Kansas.  'When  once  more  safely  across  the  border 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  21 

on  their  old  stamping  ground  in  Missouri,  the  guer- 
rillas disbanded  and  once  more  mingled  among 
their  friends  and  sympathizers  in  Jackson  and  Clay 
counties.  When  the  Civil  War  had  ended,  and  the 
restoration  of  peace  had  forced  the  guerrillas  out 
of  existence,  the  monotony  of  a  peaceful  life  began 
to  pall  on  the  James  boys,  and  they  quite  naturally 
took  up  the  wild  existence  which  subsequently 
made  them  the  most  feared  desperadoes  of  America. 


I 
24  JAMES   BOYS 

trashy  novels  chey  could  get  their  hands  on,  and 
gloried  in  the  old  stories  of  lawlessness  and  van- 
dalism. Their  ideal  was  the  road  agent  or  high- 
wayman, and  it  is  little  wonder  they  grew  up  to 
follow  the  course  of  crime  they  adopted.  Many  acts 
of  vandalism  are  attributed  to  them,  and  the  poi- 
soning of  neighbors'  live  stock,  the  mutilation  of 
their  crops  and  live  stock  and  other  misdemeanors 
of  similar  character  were  charged  against  them  in 
many  instances.  They  were  arrested  several  times 
in  their  boyhood  days,  but  on  account  of  their  youth 
and  promises  to  do  better  in  future  they  were  re- 
leased. They  had  not  the  slightest  regard  for  their 
word,  and  as  soon  as  released  went  right  back  to 
their  waywardness.  They  were  young  men  when 
the  war  broke  out,  and  just  as  naturally  as  ducks 
take  to  water  did  they  fall  in  with  the  guerrillas, 
which  were  on  land  just  about  what  the  pirates 
were  on  the  high  seas.  While  ostensibly  an  arm  of 
the  Confederate  Army,  they  were  a  lot  of  freeboot- 
ers and  cut-throats,  wko  respected  the  property  of 
no  one  and  used  the  gray  uniform  as  a  cloak  to 
mask  their  villainy  and  crime. 

In  their  youthful  days  they  associated  much  with 
the  Younger  brothers,  with  whom  they  quite  nat- 
urally farmed  an  alliance  later,  making  up  a  quar- 
tette of  the  worse  desperadoes  the  country  ever 
knew. 


DEEDS   OF   DARING 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  JAMES  BOYS  AS  BANK  ROBBERS. 

THEY  FREQUENTLY  VARIED  THE  MONOTONY  OF  LOOTING 
TRAINS   IN* ORDER  TO  CRACK  A  RICH   BANK   NOW  AND 

THEN. 

Life  at  best  is  montonous  and  causes  desperadoes 
engaged  in  lawlessness  to  seek  other  pastimes  where 
gold  is  in  sight.  Bank  robbing  offers  an  most  alluring 
diversion,  for  which  reason,  perhaps,  the  James  Boys 
frequently  flitted  from  the  prairie  to  the  cities  and 
small  towns,  where  they  put  in  their  time  robbing  a 
few  banks.  This  they  did  to  recuperate  their  frenzied 
finances  and  to  keep  them  in  practice,  perhaps.  The 
notion  of  these  bank  robberies  took  them  all  of  a  sud- 
den as  a  rule,  and  they  were  usually  committed  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  little  preparation  being  made  for 
the  raid  and  but  small  planning  having  been  done  in 
advance. 

One  of  their  most  successful  robberies  was  that  of 
the  Bank  of  Gallatin,  Mo.,  in  1869.  It  was  a  dark  and 
gloomy  day  in  December,  when  the  bank  was  flush 
with  funds,  the  farmers  having  nearly  all  deposited 
the  proceeds  of  their  big  grain  crops  and  having 


*6  JAMES   BOYS 

drawn  little  or  no  money  out  for  spring  planting  and 
other  expenses.  Without  a  moment's  warning  a  gang 
of  mounted  men  rode  wildly  down  the  main  street  of 
the  little  town,  firing  revolvers  and  driving  everybody 
into  the  houses  on  pain  of  instant  death.  Several  men 
who  dared  their  fire  dropped  dead  in  the  street  and 
others  staggered  to  places  of  safety  badly  wounded. 
Stopping  in  front  of  the  bank,  the  marauders  dis- 
mounted and,  with  their  revolvers  in  their  hands, 
dashed  inside,  leaving  two  heavily-armed  members  of 
the  gang  to  mind  the  horses.  The  cashier  was  held 
up  at  the  point  of  a  revolver,  and  when  he  made  a 
move  to  slam  the  vault  doors,  but  was  shot  dead  in 
his  tracks.  The  paying  teller  was  wounded  and  the 
other  clerks  and  attaches  driven  into  a  room  and  held 
prisoners  while  the  others  looted  the  bank.  They  se- 
cured only  about  $7,000,  owing  to  their  hurry  and  the 
fact  that  they  overlooked  several  hundred  thousand- 
dollar  bills,  which  were  in  a  secret  compartment  of  the 
vault,  which  they  did  not  know  of.  Cursing  their  luck 
at  getting  so  little,  they  fled  outside,  and,  mounting 
their  horses,  rode  away,  still  firing  at  everyone  they 
saw  out  of  sheer  malice. 

Before  they  left  they  openly  announced  themselves 
as  the  James  robbers  and  thretened  to  return  some 
other  time,  when  the  bank  was  more  well  burdened 
with  cash,  and  clean  it  out  again. 

Perhaps  more  by  reason  of  the  cold  murders  and 
audacity  of  the  affair  than  the  rather  small  proceeds 
of  the  robbery  the  people  demanded  that  the  James 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  27 

Boys  and  their  gang  of  villains  be  rounded  up,  and 
while  the  Governor  was  at  first  tardy  to  act,  public 
opinion  at  last  became  so  strong  that  orders  were  at 
last  issued  that  they  must  be  run  down. 

Amongst  those  who  believed  most  thoroughly  in  the 
guilt  of  the  James  brothers  was  Capt.  John  Thomason, 
of  Clay  county,  Missouri.  He  thought  that  it  was  no 
use  in  the  world  to  deal  in  half  measures  with  these 
miscreants.  He  was  persuaded  that  there  would  be 
no  peace,  no  security  for  life  or  property,  as  long  as 
they  were  at  large,  hence  he  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  band  of  men  who  were  resolved  at  all  hazards 
and  at  any  cost  to  arrest  Frank  and  Jesse  James  and 
bring  them  to  justice.  Captain  Thomason  had  served 
during  the  war  on  the  Confederate  side;  he  had  also 
sustained  the  office  of  Sheriff  of  Clay  county  to  the 
great  admiration  of  the  county  at  large.  He  carried 
with  him  great  moral  influence  as  a  man  who  was  the 
outspoken  friend  of  law  and  order.  No  man  in  Clay 
county  could  command  a  larger  following  for  any 
good  purpose.  The  James  brothers  were  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  purpose  of  Captain  Thomason ;  they 
knew  the  man  they  had  to  deal  with,  but  they  were 
not  in  the  least  dismayed.  They  went  out  to  meet  him 
and  his  band.  The  meeting  is  said  to  have  taken  place 
near  the  home  of  the  Samuels.  Captain  Thomason 
demanded  their  immediate  unconditional  surrender. 
Of  course,  as  may  be  well  supposed,  they  laughed  the 
demand  to  scorn,  and  seemed  disposed  to  treat  the 
whole  affair  as  a  huge  farce.  When  the  thing  as- 


28  JAMES  BOYS 

sumed  a  move  serious  aspect  and  Captain  Thotnason 
hinted  at  force,  then  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
meet  fire  with  fire.  And  the  guerrilla  boys  proved 
themselves  ready  for  the  encounter.  A  shot  from 
Jesse's  pistol  brought  down  Captain  Thomason's  horse 
dead  under  him.  The  fray  lasted  only  a  few  minutes. 
The  pursuing  party  felt  that  to  proceed  would  only 
be  to  endanger  life,  with  little  prospect  of  capturing 
their  prey,  so  they  returned,  and  Frank  and  Jesse  rode 
back  home  scathless  and  triumphant. 

A  whole  year  or  more  had  passed  since  the  last 
bank  raid,  and  the  public  mind  began  to  rest  in  a  sense 
of  security.  Besides  which,  the  managers  of  banks, 
as  may  well  be  expected,  looked  more  diligently  to 
the  means  and  methods  of  security  and  defense.  But 
while  there  is  no  insurmountable  difficulty  in  guarding 
against  ordinary  dangers,  the  special  and  unexpected 
and  stidden  dangers  are  not  so  easily  foreseen. 

Columbia  is  a  pleasant  little  village  in  the  County 
of  Adair,  in  Kentucky.  A  quiet,  sleepy  little  place 
that  knew  nothing  to  disturb  the  even  tenor  of  its 
way,  save  when  the  holding  of  the  Courts  of  Session 
stirred  the  dull  monotony  of  the  place. 

On  the  afternoon  of  April  29th,  1872,  all  was  in 
statu  quo.  It  was  about  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
The  bank  was  still  open.  The  president  of  the  Bank 
of  Deposit  was  chatting  with  Mr.  R.  A.  C.  Martin, 
the  respected  cashier  of  the  bank,  and  Mr.  Garnett, 
an  old  citizen  of  Columbia.  All  in  a  moment  the  con- 
versation was  interrupted  by  a  most  unusual  occur- 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  2p 

i 

rence.  Five  well-armed  horsemen  dashed  into  the 
street.  Promiscuous  firing  of  pistols,  oaths  and 
threatenings ;  every  human  being  was  driven  into  the 
house  on  peril  of  instant  death.  Those  who  lingered 
got  a  bullet  dangerously  near  their  heads,  which  put 
them  into  instant  movement  for  safety.  The  cashier 
of  the  bank,  who  had  just  closed  and  locked  the  safe, 
was  ordered  to  open  it,  and  did  so,  with  a  revolver 
pushed  alongside  his  head,  accompanied  by  the  threat 
of  having  his  brains  blown  out  if  he  didn't.  The  bank 
president  came  out  of  his  office  with  a  revolver  in  his 
hand,  and  was  shot  through  the  head  the  next  instant. 
Gathering  what  money  they  could  get  their  hands  on, 
the  robbers  put  it  into  bags,  and,  after  a  few  parting 
shots,  fled.  This  time  they  secured  even  less  than  on 
the  occasion  of  the  former  robbery,  for  they  had 
neglected  to  inform  themselves  that  that  very  day  the 
bank  had  met?  some  heavy  obligations  and  had  little 
funds  on  hand.  As  before,  the  fact  of  their  small 
booty  seemed  to  enrage  the  robbers,  and  they  shot  at 
everybody  they  saw.  After  they  had  left  town,  the 
usual  indignation  meeting  was  held  and  the  authorities 
aroused  to  action,  but  none  seemed  particularly  desir- 
ous to  pursuing  the  gang,  and,  after  a  lot  of  bluff  and 
bluster,  the  matter  was  again  dropped. 

The  third  robbery  of  the  series  occurred  some  time 
later  at  Cory  don,  Iowa,  which  was  about  the  same  as 
the  other  two  which  preceded  it.  It  was  on  the  28th 
of  June,  1873,  at  about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
bank  was  just  opening  for  business,  when  seven  des- 


30  JAMES  •  BOYS 

peradoes  charged  furiously  into  the  center  of  the  town, 
firing1  right  and  left  and  swearing  to  shoot  dead  every- 
body who  remained  in  the  streets.  Their  commands 
were  obeyed.  The  streets  were  cleared.  None  of  the 
inhabitants  thought  of  offering  any  resistance.  Three 
of  the  robbers  dismounted  and,  with  cocked  pistols, 
entered  the  bank,  swearing  to  blow  the  heads  off  any 
who  dared  to  interfere  with  them.  The  six  heavy 
dragoon  pistols  served  to  terrify  those  who  were  in 
the  bank,  and  they  yielded  at  discretion.  The  safe 
was  opened  and  the  contents  thrown  into  a  sack.  It 
is  said  that  the  robbers  made  by  this  one  haul  a  sum 
nearly  approaching  $40,000.  The  people  in  the  bank 
were  charged  to  order  and  silence,  and  one  of  the  rob- 
bers' brood  boasted  that  he  could  fetch  a  button  off 
the  coat  of  any  of  them  with  his  pistol;  so  they  had 
best  have  a  care. 

Of  course,  after  the  consternation  had  given  place 
to  quieter  moments,  the  inhabitants  instituted  a  vigor- 
ous pursuit.  The  common  result  followed.  Not  ont 
of  the  robbers  were  caught 


BEKB6   OF   DARING  3! 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  JAMES  BOYS'  FIRST  TRAIN  ROBBERY. 

AFTER  BANK  ROBBING  BECAME  MONOTONOUS  -THEY 
TACKLED  HOLDING  UP  EXPRESS  TRAINS,  AND  WERE  SO 
SUCCESSFUL  THEY  KEPT  AT  IT  FOR  SEVERAL  YEARS. 

Ever  since  the  world  began  man  has  grown  tired 
of  the  same  old  thing  over  and  over.  It  would 
hardly  be  credited  that  such  an  exciting,  perilous 
vocation  as  bank  robbing  could  become  monoto- 
nous, but  if  the  James  boys  and  their  close  asso- 
ciates, the  Younger  brothers,  are  to  be  believed, 
even  bank  robbing  palls  on  one's  nerves  after  awhile 
and  something  more  exciting  must  be  hunted  up. 
Naturally,  train  robbery  offered  the  greatest  allure- 
ments in  the  excitement  line,  and  therefore  it  was 
to  it  that  this  quartette  of  bad  men  turned  after  they 
had  decided  to  shelve  bank  robbery  for  awhile  and 
try  a  new  line  of  thieving. 

The  idea  of  a  change  to  a  more  daring  and  reck- 
less species  of  robbery  is  supposed  to  have  origi- 
nated with  Frank  James  and  Jim  Younger. 

These  two  desperate  bandits  had  been  absent 
frem  the  band  for  several  months,  and  it  is  probable 
that  they  were  on  a  tour  of  observation.  They  made 
a  trip  westward  by  rail  as  far  as  Cheyenne,  and  evi- 


$2      James  Boys  Robbing  the  Missouri  Pacific  Express, 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  33 

dently  learned  a  great  deal  regarding  the  running 
of  trains,  shipment  of  money  by  express  from  the 
Pacific  Coast  and  other  important  information  nec- 
essary to  be  possessed  in  the  successfully  carrying 
on  of  their  new  business  enterprise  of  wrecking  and 
robbing  railroad  trains. 

The  result  of  their  confab  was  a  determination  to 
inaugurate  a  new  order  of  "knights  of  the  road." 
The  "road  agents"  of  the  Far  West  were  to  be  com- 
pletely thrown  into  the  shade.  Holding  up  and 
robbing  mere  stage  coaches  on  lonely  roads  in  Eng- 
land had  made  the  names  of  Claud  Duval  and  Dick 
Turpin  world  renowned.  What  would  the  world 
say  of  this  daring  scheme  to  tackle  the  great  railway 
trains,  the  giant  stage  coaches  of  this  latter  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century? 

This  thought  fired  the  vaulting  ambition  of  the 
James  boys  to  the  intensest  degree,  and  the  terrible 
crime  it  involved  of  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of 
helpless  women  and  children  did  not  cause  them  a 
moment's  hesitation. 

It  was  on  the  night  of  July  21st,  1873,  in  pursu- 
ance with  the  plan  agreed  upon  at  their  meeting  in 
their  Jackson  county  cave,  the  gang  of  eight  ban- 
dits met  at  a  point  near  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  where 
they  were  to  hold  up  their  first  train.  At  this  point 
there  is  a  sharp  curve  in  the  road,  which  is  also  in 
a  'deep  cut,  and  it  was  decided  that  these  existing 
conditions  would  greatly  add  to  the  success  of  the 


34  JAMES   BOYS 

plot  and  render  the  train  crew  and  passengers  more 
easy  victims  than  if  it  took  place  elsewhere. 

Their  conjectures  in  this  line  proved  right,  for 
the  train  fell  an  easy  victim  to  their  wiles  and  the 
desperate  attack  that  followed  the  stopping  of  the 
train. 

The  train  consisted  of  seven  coaches,  including1 
two  sleepers,  and  was  in  charge  of  Engineer  Martin 
Kelly,  who  was  looking  sharply  along  the  glistening 
rails,  when  he  saw  the  ties  piled  across  the  track. 
He  instantly  threw  the  reversing  lever,  applied  the 
air  brakes,  but  too  late.  The  robbers  had  also 
loosened  a  rail. 

The  engineer  saw  the  movement  and  uttered  a 
cry  of  despair. 

The  screaming  engine  struck  the  loosened  rail 
and  plunged  sideways  into,  the  bank,  while  the  cars 
telescoped  and  piled  up  in  terrible  confusion.  Engi- 
neer RafTerty  was  instantly  killed  and  a  dozen  pas- 
sengers seriously  injured.  Regardless  of  all  this, 
however,  the  robbers  quickly  boarded  the  wreck, 
two  of  them  entering  the  express  car,  while  the 
others  forced  the  excited  and  demoralized  passen- 
gers to  deliver  up  all  their  money  and  valuables. 

The  express  messenger  was  made  to  open  the  safe 
and  give  the  bandits  what  money  he  had  in  charge, 
bu^  the  amount  was  small,  consisting  of  about  throe 
thousand  dollars.  From  the  passengers  nearly  as 
much  more  was  obtained.  This  was  a  bitter  disap- 
pointment to  the  outlaws,  for  they  confidently  ex- 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  35 

pcctcd  to  find  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  dollars  in 
gold,  as  reported.  Fortunately,  the  bandits  were 
twelve  hours  too  soon,  as  on  the  following  day  the 
express  carried  over  the  same  road  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  in  gold. 

After  securing  all  the  booty  possible,  the  seven 
daring  wreckers  waved  their  hats  and  shouted  fare- 
well to  their  victims,  and,  gaining  their  horses,  they 
rode  away  to  the  south. 

The  excitement  created  over  this  dreadful  outrage 
was  very  great,  and  hundreds  volunteered  to  assist 
in  apprehending  the  desperadoes. 

The  trail  led  straight  through  Missouri  and  to  the 
Missouri  River,  where  there  was  unmistakable  evi- 
dence that  the  outlaws  swam  the  stream  with  their 
horses.  Following  the  track  on  the  other  side,  the 
band  was  followed  into  Jackson  county,  where,  as 
usual,  every  trace  disappeared.  A  party  of  detec- 
tives went  down  to  Monegaw  Springs  in  search  of 
the  outlaws,  and  found  Jesse  James  and  two  of  the 
Younger  boys,  but  they  made  no  effort  to  bring" 
them  away,  and  were  glad  to  escape,  themselves 
alive. 


36  JAMES  BOYS 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  FAMOUS  LIBERTY  BANK  ROBBERY. 

ONE   OF   THE    MOST  DARING   AND   SENSATIONAL   OF   ALL 

THE   JAMES   BOYS*    LONG   LIST  OF   BANK   ROBBERIES 

HOW  THEY  LANDED  $2O,OOO  IN  A  VERY  SHORT  TIME. 

It  was  ever  the  game  of  the  James  boys  to  make 
their  operations  a  complete  surprise.  They  found 
by  experience  that  when  they  could  surprise  a  town 
or  a  bank  absolutely  they  had  things  pretty  much 
all  their  own  way.  The  very  suddenness  of  the  at- 
tack seemed  to  daze  the  victims,  and  they  did  not 
even  think  of  resistance,  in  most  instances. 

The  war  had  made  the  guerrillas  expert  in  massa- 
creing  repugnant  citizens,  and  in  appropriating  the 
property  of  their  victims.  Many  of  the  old  crowd 
were  banded  together  by  the  sinews  of  the  "black 
oath,"  and  scarcely  had  the  smoke  of  battle  been  lifted 
up  and  assimilated  witfy  the  refreshing  dew  clouds  of 
heaven  before  plans  were  matured  for  the  robbing  of 
country  banks. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  1866,  the  sheriff  of  Harri- 
son county  attempted  to  execute  a  capais  for  the  ar- 
rest of  Bill  Reynolds,  in  Pleasant  Hill,  who  was  under 
indictment  for  crimes  committed  during  the  war. 
Geo.  Maddox  and  N.  P.  Hayes  were  in  town  at  ths 


DEEDS  OF  DARINC  37 

time,  and  as  the  three  were  members  of  the  same 
organization,  resistance  to  the  officer  was  made.  It 
became  necessary  for  the  sheriff  to  summon  a  posse 
of  citizens  to  his  assistance.  A  fight  in  the  open  street 
then  ensued,  ending  in  the  death  of  Reynolds  and 
Hayes  and  the  capture  of  Maddox.  Threats  of  an 
attack  on  the  town  by  guerrillas  were  rumored,  and 
for  several  days  nearly  every  male  citizen  was  bearing 
arms  in  anticipation  of  an  attempt  being  made  to  lib- 
erate Maddox. 

The  excitement  was  unabated  in  Pleasant  Hill  until 
the  1 4th  of  February,  when  the  robbery  of  the  Clay 
County  Savings  Association  at  Liberty,  Misouri,  was 
reported.  The  reason  why  rumors  were  so  persist- 
ently circulated  of  an  intended  attempt  to  deliver  Mad- 
dox was  now  clearly  understood  to  be  for  the  purpose 
of  making  the  surprise  on  Liberty  more  complete. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  St.  Valentine's  JDay  a  squad 
of  the  old  guerrillas,  numbering  an  even  dozen,  rode 
into  Liberty  from  different  directions  and,  meting  in 
the  public  square,  they  disposed  themselves  as  fol- 
lows: Three  of  the  robbers  were  stationed  some  dis- 
tance from  the  bank  at  eligible  positions,  which  would 
most  readily  detect  any  centralizing  attack  or  suspi- 
cious movement  of  the  citizens ;  the  other  nine  rode 
directly  up  to  the  front  of  the  bank,  where  two  of  the 
number  dismounted  and  entered  with  drawn  revolvers. 
The  hour  being  early,  luckily  for  the  bandits  there 
was  no  one  in  the  bank  except  the  cashier,  Mr.  Bird, 
and  his  son. 


38  JAMES   BOYS 

A  pistol  was  presented  at  the  head  of  each,  and 
under  threats  of  instant  death,  in  case  of  refusal,  Mr. 
Bird  opened  the  bank  vault,  from  which  the  sum  of 
seventy-two  thousand  dollars  was  taken  and  crammed 
into  a  pair  of  saddk  bags  carried  for  the  purpose.  As 
the  robbers  were  regaining  their  horses  for  flight,  Mr. 
Bird  thrust  his  head  out  of  a  window  and  called  to  a 
little  boy  by  the  name  of  Wymore,  whom  he  saw 
passing,  telling  him  that  a  robbery  had  been  com- 
mitted and  to  raise  the  alarm.  As  the  little  fellow,  not 
more  than  twelve  years  of  age,  raised  the  cry  of  "Rob- 
bers !  Help !"  he  was  fired  on  by  the  bandits,  and  fell 
dead  with  five  fatal  bullets  in  his  body.  The  robbers 
then  began  firing  indiscriminately  and  yelling  with 
savage  fury,  so  that  for  some  time  after  the  bandits 
had  departed  the  citizens  were  too  badly  intimidated 
to  think  of  pursuit.  A  posse,  under  the  leadership  of 
the  sheriff,  was  organized  about  one  hour  afterward, 
however,  and  started  out  on  a  spirited  chase.  The 
trail  led  to  Mount  Gilead  Church,  where  the  evidence 
of  bank  paper  showed  that  the  robbers  had  tarried  a 
few  moments  to  divide  the  spoils.  It  was  also  evident 
that  the  band  had  separated  and  taken  various  direc- 
tions so  as  to  elude  pursuit,  which  they  accomplished 
so  effectively  that  not  one  of  the  bandits  was  appre- 
hended. 


DEEDS  OF  DARING 


CHAPTER  VI. 
ROBBING  THE  OVERLAND  STAGE  COACHES 

THOSE  VERSATILE  BANDITS  AND  THEIR  EXPLOITS  AS 
ROAD  AGENTS  IN  SEVERAL  SENSATIONAL  HOLD-UPS 
«F  THE  OLD-TIME  STAGE  COACHES. 

Although  they  favored  train  roibberies  as  being 
more  prolific  of  profit,  the  James  boys  did  not  hesi- 
tate now  and  then  to  engage  in  a  little  road  agent 
business  on  the  side,  when  things  were  dull  and  op- 
portunities were  good,  and  they  made  a  number  of 
pretty  big  hauls  in  that  manner.  The  hold-ups  were 
all  tragic  and  sensational,  and  in  several  of  them 
rather  sharp  battle  preceded  the  robberies.  One  of  the 
first  stage  robberies  perpetrated  was  that  of  the  reg- 
ular coach  which  ran  between  Malvern  and  Hot 
Springs.  These  coaches  were  more  in  the  nature  of 
ambulances  for  the  sick  who  went  to  Hot  Springs  for 
treatment,  but  as  these  patients  were  of  the  rich 
rather  than  the  poor,  the  James  boys  decided  to  take 
a  chance,  and,  as  they  expected,  the  chance  panned  out 
well.  At  a  little  place  called  Sulphur  Vale  the  stage 
halted  for  change  of  horses,  and  it  was  there  the  ban- 
dits decided  to  attack  it.  It  had  proceeded  about  a 
mile  from  the  relay  station  when  the  driver  of  the 
coach  was  suddenly  accosted: 


The  Overland  Stage  Robbery. 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  $8 

V 

"Stop I  stop !  or  I'll  blow  your  head  off!" 

With  this  unceremonious  chalUn^e  five  men, 
dresstd  in  Federal  uniform,  sprang  from  their  am- 
bush, each  with  cocked  revolvers  in  their  hands, 
threatening  the  lives  of  every  passenger  who  dared  to 
resist  them.  Of  course,  the  passengers  were  struck 
dumb  with  consternation  and  terror.  Presence  of 
mind  is  an  uncommonly  good  thing,  but  by  no  means 
common  under  such  circumstances. 

"Come,  d— « — n  you!  Tumble  out  quick;  we  have 
no  time  to  spare!"  was  the  order  of  the  foremost 
robber. 

"Oh.  certainly!"  said  a  Mr.  Charles  Morse.  "We 
can  do  nothing  else." 

'1  am  paralyzed  in  my  legs  and  cannot  walk,"  cried 
a  poor  old  victim  of  rheumatism  within  the  stage,  as 
the  other  passengers  came  tumbling  out. 

"Never  mind!    Stay  where  you  are,"  was  the  reply. 

The  stage  was  emptied,  save  of  the  one  lame  old 
gentleman.  The  rest  of  the  passengers  were  ordered, 
with  oaths  and  threats,  and  with  pointed  revolvers  to 
confirm  the  threats,  to  form  in  a  circle  and  hold  up 
their  hands,  which  they  did  without  delay. 

The  brigands  then  began  to  search,  examine  and 
rob  every  passenger.  Not  one  escaped,  and  not  one 
seemed  equal  to  offoring  the  least  resistance  or  mak- 
ing the  slightest  remonstrance.  The  net  result  in 
money  and  valuables  approximated  the  sum  of  $4,000. 

The  next  stage  robbery  was  that  of  the  Concord 
stage.  It  came  rumbling  along  with  eight  pas- 


42  JAMES   BOYS 

sengers,  seven  men  and  a  woman.  The  coach 
had  scarcely  entered  the  shadow  of  a  deep 
woods,  when  the  driver  noted  two  horsemen  some 
distance  ahead  in  the  woods.  Suspecting  nothing,  he 
drove  on  until  he  came  up  with  them,  when  he 
wheeled  suddenly  across  the  road,  and,  pointing  rifles 
at  his  head,  ordered  him  to  halt.  There  was  nothing 
to  do  but  obey  and  he  did  so  with  alacrity.  He  saw 
at  once  he  had  stage  robbers  to  deal  with  and  ac- 
cepted his  fate.  He  recognized  them  as  the  James 
Boys  and  begged  his  passengers  if  they  valued  their 
Mves  to  offer  no  resistance. 

"You  see,  they'll  have  your  money,  anyhow,  and  if 
you  bother  'em  they'll  have  your  life  as  well  as  your 
money." 

"Come  out  the  stage,  please,"  said  the  rider  who 
had  first  commanded  the  halt. 

The  order  took  the  shape  of  the  most  polite  request. 
The  passengers  looked  through  the  open  windows  and 
saw  the  muzzles  of  two  pair  of  revolvers,  commanding 
the  whole  line  of  the  stage.  The  passengers  needed 
no  further  argument.  Mr.  R.  S.  Rountree,  of  the 
Milwaukee  Evening  Wisconsin,  was  wide  awake  to 
the  importance  of  the  hour,  and  managed  to  slip  his 
gold  watch  and  pocketbook  under  the  cushion  as  he 
rose  to  leave  the  stage.  Miss  Rountree,  daughter  of 
the  Hon.  R.  Rountree,  of  Lebanon,  Ky.,  the  only  lady 
on  board,  was  permitted  to  retain  her  seat.  After  the 
passengers  were  out  and  stood  in  single  file,  Frank 
James  tossed  his  rein  to  his  companion,  who  covered 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  43 

/ 

the  whole  line  with  his  pistols,  and  then  proceeded  to 
seach  their  pockets,  while  they  were  charged  to  hold 
up  their  hands  and  keep  them  up.  There  seems  not 
to  have  been  the  first  thought  of  resistance. 

When  they  were  through  with  their  examination 
and  robbery,  they  generously  returned  the-  railway 
passes  and  tickets  that  were  no  manner  of  use  in  the 
world  to  them.  Then,  with  the  utmost  nonchalance, 
they  proceeded  to  explain  that  they  were  not  robbers ! 
Oh!  dear,  no,  nothing  so  vulgar!  They  were  only 
moonshiners  who,  unduly  pressed  by  an  unreason- 
able government,  were  compelled  to  leave  the  country, 
and,  of  course,  they  could  not  go  without  money. 
Anri,  therefore,  though  much  against  their  principles, 
they  were  compelled  to  levy  toll  after  this  fashion. 
They  were  extremely  sorry  if  they  had  given  any 
undue  annoyance.  It  might  be  some  consolation  to 
know  that  they  had  taken  toll  from  the  outgoing 
coach  that  very  afternoon,  and  Mr.  George  Grogham, 
one  of  the  owners  of  the  celebrated  cave,  had  con- 
tributed the  handsome  sum  of  $700. 

Turning  to  Mr.  Craig,  of  Georgia,  Frank  said  he 
hated  worse  than  anything  to  take  his  money,  for  in 
the  late  war  he  had  fought  in  a  Geogia  regiment  him- 
self, but  then  he  had  no  option. 

"You  know,  my  dear  sir,"  said  Frank,  with  a  smile, 
"needs  must  when  the  devil  drives." 

Turning  to  the  only  lady  of  the  party,  the  imperti- 
nent robber  inquired  her  name- 


34  JAMES  BOYS 

"Miss  Rountree,  of  Lebanon,"  said  the  lady, 
scarcely  able  to  hide  her  disgust. 

"Indeed!"  said  Frank,  his  face  quite  lighting  up 
with  a  smile.  "Why,  then,  you'll  probably  know 
some  friends  of  mine.  I  have  some  very  dear  friends 
in  Lebanon.  Do  you  happen  to  know  the  Misses 
Smithers  who  live  there?" 

"Yes,  sir,  I. do,"  replied  Miss  Rountree. 

"Dear  me,"  added  Frank,  "what  a  coincidence! 
Nice." 

After  sarcastically  bidding  the  party  good  bye,  and 
asking  Miss  Rountree  to  remember  him  to  the  Smith- 
ers girls  of  Lebanon,  when  she  saw  them  again,  the 
robbers  rode  off,  headed  by  Frank  James,  while  the 
coach  and  its  terror-stricken  passengers  got  under 
way  once  more  and  proceeded  on  its  trip. 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  45 


CHAPTER  VII. 
ROBBING  THE  RUSSELLVILLE  BANK. 

ANOTHER  DARING  ACHIEVEMENT  OF  THE  JAMES  BOYS 
BY  WHICH  THEY  SECURED  NEARLY  $75,OOO,  WHICH, 
AS  USUAL,  THEY  SOON  SQUANDERED. 

The  robbery  of  the  Russellvilk  (Mo.)  National 
Bank  was  another  of  those  daring  deeds  of  lawless- 
ness, which  very  daring  proved  beyond  doubt  it  was 
the  work  of  the  James  gang  and  left  its  "earmarks," 
the  indisputable  evidence  of  their  clever  work.  When- 
ever those  desperadoes  planned  they  planned  welt 
and  whatever  they  attempted  they  came  pretty  neaf 
making  a  success.  This  was  particularly  true  of 
their  bank  exploits.  They  never  failed  to  land  the 
treasure  in  a  single  instance. 

Russellville  is  a  pleasant  little  town  of  about  five 
thousand  inhabitants,  saving  and  thrifty,  and  highly 
proud  of  their  bank  and  its  contents — that  is,  they 
were  proud  of  its  contents  prior. to  the  James  boys' 
visit.  There  wasn't  much  contents  to  be  proud  of 
after  they  went  away.  It  was  in  the  center  of  a  very 
thriving  agricultural  district,  and  its  bank  was  well 
filled  with  farmers'  money. 

It  was  a  beautiful  spring  morning  in  1873.  The 
stores  were  open  and  the  store  dealers  wsi'e  begin- 


46  JAMES  BOYS 

ning  their  uiioiness  for  the  day.  Now  and  then  a 
rumbling  wagon,  corn  laden,  creaked  along  the  quiet 
street.  The  bank  was  just  about  to  open  its  doors, 
when  suddenly  a  clatter  of  hoofs  was  heard.  Sharp, 
quick  and  terrible  as  the  crash  of  doom,  a  dozen 
horsemen,  each  armed  with  two  pairs  of  revolvers, 
dashed  down  the  street,  to  the  terror  and  amazement 
of  the  villagers.  With  the  most  fearful  oaths  and 
threatenings  these  armed  brigands  commanded  the 
people  to  go  into  their  houses  and  keep  quiet  on  pa&i 
of  instant  death,  and  to  confirm  their  purpose  they 
fired  in  all  directions.  Two  of  the  men— of  whom 
Jesse  James  was  one  and  Cole  Younger  the  other*— * 
dismounted  at  the  bank  and  entered.  The  cashier 
had  opened  the  safe  and  the  books  were  out  on  the 
counters,  and  a  quantity  c*  gold  was  spread  on*  be- 
fore the  cashier,  which  Ke  .vas  then  in  the  ace  of 
counting.  The  suddei;  entrance  ot  thebc  armed  mei; 
astonished  him  for  i  moment.  He  turned  at  once  to 
the  safe  and  wab  in  the  act  of  swinging  back  the 
door,  when  Jesse  James  said: 

"Leave  that  alone  and  keep  quiet,  or  I'll  blow  your 
brains  out/' 

What  could  the  cashier  do  with  such  a  threat  in  his 
ears,  supported  as  it  was  by  the  loaded  revolvers,  too 
close  to  said  brains  to  be  pleasant?  The  cashier,  set- 
ting a  higher  value  on  his  life  than  all  the  gold  in  the 
safe,  kept  quiet,  and  the  safe  was  rifled.  The  loose 
gold  on  the  counter  was  swept  off  by  Cole  Younger. 
Everything-  of  value  was  taken  away  except  a  few 


Robbing  the  Russellviifc  Bank, 


48  JAMES  BOYi, 

revenue  and  postage  stamps.  These  the  robbers 
thought  hardly  worth  the  trouble  of  taking,  and  so 
Jesse,  to  whom  a  joke  was  never  untimely,  tossed 
back  the  stamps,  remarking  to  the  affrighted  cashier 
that  he  "might  want  to  mail  letters  later  in  the  day!" 

The  booty  secured,  the  robbers  departed  as  they 
came,  cursing  and  threatening  instant  death  to  any 
who  dared  to  follow.  No  one  blamed  the  cashier  of 
the  bank.  He  was  thoroughly  helpless. 

As  with  their  other  robberies,  the  James  Boys  were 
so  quick  in  this  instance  that  the  robbery  was  over 
and  the  robbers  gone  almost  before  anyone  realized 
it  had  happened.  It  was  the  very  boldness  of  it  that 
carried  it  through  successfully  and  the  very  audacity 
that  appalled  every  one  who  was  about  when  it  oc- 
curred. 

The  usual  appeal  to  the  authorities  was  ma4e,  and 
the  customary  posse  was  organized  to  run  down  the 
robbers,  but  in  a  little  while  the  sensation  died  out; 
the  robbers  were  reported  hundreds  of  miles  away, 
and  the  matter  came  to  an  end. 


DEEDS  OF  DARIN* 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  $50,000  EXPRESS  CAR  ROBBERY. 

HOW  THE  JAMES  BOYS  CLEANED  UP  A  WELLS-FARGO 
EXPRESS  CAR  AND  GOT  AWAY  WITH  A  BIG  SUM  OF 
BANKNOTES  AND  BULLION. 

Muncie,  Kansas,  is  a  little  hamlet,  about  eight  miles 
west  of  Kansas  City,  on  the  line  of  the  Kansas  Pacific 
Railroad.  It  is  usually  as  tranquil  and  quiet  as  sleepy 
country  stations  are  reputed  to  be,  and  seldom,  if 
ever  did  anything  occur,  to  awaken  it  out  of  its  nor- 
mal terpidity.  For  years  it  had  slumbered  by  the  side 
of  the  railroad  tracks — just  about  on  the  map  and 
that  was  all.  But  on  December  I2th,  1874,  there 
came  its  awakening,  and  after  a  reign  of  the  wildest 
excitement,  it  became  known  the  country  over,  by 
reason  of  the  sensational  doings  that  took  place 
there. 

It  was  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day  above  men- 
tioned that  five  horsemen,  heavily  armed,  rode  into 
town,  led  by  a  man  wearing  a  heavy  black  beard  and 
carrying  two  heavy  Colt  revolvers.  They  were  all 
masked  with  black  dominoes,  and  as  they  entered  the 
town  limits  attracted  the  attention  of  a  few  strag- 
gling- villagers,  who  saw  them  riding  slowly  down  the 
main  street.  In  front  of  Purdee's  store,  OD  the  main 


ijO  JAMBS  BOYS 

street,  they  dismounted  and  went  inside,  leaving  one 
of  their  number  outside  with  the  horses.  Almost  in- 
stantly they  held  up  Purdee  with  their  revolvers  and 
robbed  his  till  of  the  few  dollars  it  contained. 

Then  they  compelled  the  store-keeper  to  accompany 
them  to  the  railroad  water-tank  near  the  station  build- 
ing and  point  out  a  quantity  of  old  cross-ties.  These 
they  piled  on  the  track,  effectually  blocking  the  line. 
They  also  set  out  the  flag  at  the  station  as  a  signal 
for  the  next  train  to  stop. 

During  this  time  a  horseman,  a  wagonload  of 
women  and  children,  and  several  villagers  happened 
along.  These  the  robbers  immediately  herded  to- 
gether— altogether  twenty-five  persons — and  put  un- 
der guard  of  one  of  their  number. 

The  4.45  passenger  express  from  the  West  was 
the  next  train  due.  As  it  neared  the  station  the  en- 
gineer, Robert  Murphy,  saw  the  signal  and  the  pile 
of  cross-ties  on  the  track  and  pulled  up  his  train 
within  a  hundred  feet  of  the  cross-ties. 

The  next  minute  he  was  gazing  into  the  cold  steel 
barrels  of  a  quartette  of  revolvers,  while  his  cringeing 
fireman  was  also  in  a  similar  predicament,  both  being 
threatened  with  instant  death  if  they  moved  a  muscle. 
Meanwhile  others  of  the  gang  were  at  work  in  the 
passenger  coaches  robbing  the  affrighted  passengers 
and  trainmen.  They  next  tackled  the  express  car. 
In  the  meantime  the  robbers  on  the  locomotive  had 
forced  the  engineer  to  uncouple  the  express  car  and 
run  it  up  the  track  seveial  hundred  yards,  to  where 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  5! 

the  pti%o£  cross-ties  on  the  track  prevented  any  fur- 
ther progress.  The  express  messenger  had  not  time 
to  lock  the  doors  of  the  car  before  he  was  covered 
by  a  couple  of  guns  and  forced,  under  pain  of  in- 
stant death,  to  open  the  safe. 

He  did  so  reluctantly,  and  almost  in  less  time  tha&, 
it  takes  to  tell  it,  the  robbers  had  tumbled  out  some 
$55,000  and  stowed  it  away  in  a  mail  sack,  the  con- 
tents of  which  they  dumped  out  for  the  purpose. 
The  robbers  left  the.  car,  carrying  the  treasure,  after 
warning  the  express  agent  they  would  fill  him  full 
of  lead  if  he  even  dared  look  out  of  the  rifled  car. 
At  a  signal  from  the  leader,  the  gang  collected 
around  him ;  they  held  a  momentary  consultation,  and 
then  mounting  their  hordes,  rode  back  to  where  the 
white- faced  passengers  were  peering  out  of  the  car 
windows  and  bade  them,  "Give  our  regards  to  the 
folks  in  Kansas  City."  Before  riding  away  they  re- 
turned several  watches  they  had  taken  from  women 
passengers,  saying  they  might  need  them  later  on. 

Wheeling  their  horses,-  the  robbers  dashed  off  at 
top  speed,  going  in  the  direction  of  Kansas  City  and 
carrying  with  them  nearly  sixty  thousand  dollars  in 
booty. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  train  in  Kansas  City,  posses 
were  sent  out  in  pursuit  of  the  robbers.  The  chase 
was  futile,  for  the  gang  had  crossed  the  State  line 
into  Jackson  County,  Missouri  where  their  trail  was 
lost  in  the  mountains. 

The  methods  of  the  robbers  and  the  descriptions 


52  JAMES  BOYS 

of  the  black-bearded  leader  convinced  the  authorities 
that  the  gang  was  headed  by  Jesse  James,  who,  al- 
though scarcely  thirty  years  old,  was  already  known 
as  a  desperado,  with  a  score  of  robberies  and  mur- 
ders in  Missouri  to  his  credit.  Associated  with  him 
were  his  brother  Frank,  three  years  older  than  he; 
Bill  McDaniells,  Clell  Miller,  Arthur  McCoy,  and 
several  others. 

The  only  one  of  the  gang  captured  was  Bill  Mc- 
Daniells, who  was  arrested  while  on  a  spree  with 
some  of  the  jewelry  taken  from  the  Muncie  train  in 
his  possession.  Two  months  later  McDaniells  es- 
caped, but  was  discovered  and  shot  by  an  officer  who 
attempted  to  capture  him. 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  53 


CHAPTER  IX. 
A  COUPLE  OF  DARING  BANK  ROBBERIES. 

JESSE  JAMES  AND  THE  YOUNGER  BROTHERS  PLAY  A 
FOUR-HANDED  GAME  AT  BANK-ROBBERY  AND  CLEAN 
UP  TWO  MONEY  DEPOSITORIES  FOR  GOOD  ROUND  SUMS. 

From  the  standpoint  of  a  criminal  critic,  the  Tames 
Boys  and  Younger  Brothers  did  their  best  work  m 
the  line  of  bank  robbing,  when  they  undertook  a  iob 
together.  They  were  adepts  at  planning  such  events 
and  went  into  such  details  that  they  seldom  failed 
to  make  a  complete  coup  when  they  started  in  to 
get  away  with  the  treasure.  The  rapidity  with  which 
they  worked  precluded  all  possibility  of  the  assem- 
bling of  a  posse  and  subsequent  capture  or  death. 
As  a  usual  thing  the  bank  was  robbed  and  the  rob- 
bers and  booty  gone  before  the  people  of  the  village 
fully  realized  what  was  happening.  From  this  it 
must  not  be  inferred  that  they  always  chose  night 
for  their  operations,  as  they  more  often  worked  in 
mid-day,  for  the  reason  that  at  that  hour  the  vaults 
were  unlocked  and  open  and  the  money  easier  to  get 
at.  For  instance,  the  robbery  of  the  Bank  of  Lex- 
ington, Mo.,  occurred  at  high  noon,  October  30, 
1866.  At  that  hour,  four  determined  men  rode  down 
the  main  street  and  leisurely  hitched  their  hores  hi 
an  alley  near  the  banking  house  of  Alexander  Mitch- 


54  JAMES   BOYS 

ell  &  Co.  Two  of  the  men  walked  into  the  bank, 
meeting  the  cashier,  Mr.  J.  L.  Thomas,  in  the  door- 
way, who  went  behind  the  counter  to  attend  the  wants 
of  the  strangers.  One  of  the  men  handed  a  $50  7-30 
bond  to  the  cashier  with  the  request  to  have  it 
changed.  As  Mr.  Thomas  opened  the  cash  drawer 
two  more  of  the  robbers  appeared  at  the  door  with 
drawn  revolvers,  the  fifth  man  being  left  in  charge 
of  the  horses.  It  was  quick  work  now,  for,  looking 
into  the  muzzles  of  four  deadly  pistols,  the  cashier 
was  compelled  to  hand  over  all  the  money  in  the 
bank,  $2,000,  which  being  placed  in  a  sack,  the  rob- 
bers coolly  walked  out  of  the  bank  with  a  parting 
admonition  to  Mr.  Thomas  that  if  he  raised  any 
outcry  they  would  kill  him.  Mounting  their  horses, 
the  robbers  rode  swiftly  away,  and  it  was  more  than 
an  hour  after  the  robbery  before  the  pursuing  party 
was  organized.  Twelve  well-armed  citizens  started 
after  the  bandits,  and  spent  two  days  in  a  fruitless 
search  for  the  despoilers.  People  began  to  consider 
the  insecurity  of  country  banks  and  the  means  of  ap- 
prehending the  daring  outlaws;  meetings  were  held 
and  various  plans  discussed,  but  in  two  weeks'  time 
the  outrage  was  almost  forgotten. 

For  six  long  months  nothing  startling  was  heard 
from  the  James  and  Younger  brothers,  and  they 
were  supposed  to  be  far  away  from  their  old  stamp- 
ing ground.  But,  like  the  proverbial  bad  penny,  they 
always  turned  up  unexpected 

Savannah  is  the  capital  seat  of  Andrew  county,  a 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  55 

thrifty  little  village  of  tweleve  or  fifteen  hundred  in- 
habitants, that  has  suffered  but  little  from  the  blight 
of  war.  The  place  contained  a  small  banking  insti- 
tution, under  the  proprietorship  of  Judge  McLain, 
with  small  capital. 

On  the  2d  of  March,  1867,  five  ex-guerrillas,  J.  F. 
Edmunson,  Jim  White,,  Bill  Chiles,  Bud  McDaniels, 
and  a  fellow  named  Pope,  rode  into  Savannah  in 
such^a  manner  as  indicated  they  were  on  important 
business.  It  was  nearly  high  noon,  and  no  one  was 
in  the  bank  except  the  Judge  and  his  son.  The  ban- 
dits rode  up  and  four  of  them  dismounted,  leaving 
their  horses  in  charge  of  the  fifth  man.  As  the  four 
entered  the  bank  with  drawn  pistols,  the  Judge 
looked  earnestly  over  his  spectacles,  and  at  once 
comprehended  the  character  of  his  customers.  He 
slammed  the  door  of  the  safe  shut,  and,  seizing  a  re- 
volver which  lay  on  the  bank  counter,  he  met  the 
bandits  halfway,  but  the  shots  proved  ineffectual, 
while  a  big  navy  pistol  ball  went  tearing  through 
his  breast,  which  made  him  sink  to  the  floor  as  one 
death-stricken.  Young  McLain  ran  into  the  street 
and  gave  the  alarm,  which  brought  many  citizens  to 
the  rescue.  The  robber  left  in  charge  of  the  horses 
shouted  for  the  return  of  his  companiong,  who,  find- 
ing their  position  becoming  very  serious,  mounted 
the  ready  horses  and  fled 

A.  posse  of  twenty-five  citizens  went  in  pursuit  of 
the  bandits  a  few  minutes  after  their  hasty  departure 
and  trailed  them  for  a  few  miles,  after  which  thejr 


56  JAMES   BOYS 

lost  all  trace  of  them  and  the  chase  was  abandoned, 
Judge  McLain's  wound  was  desperate,  but  he  eventu- 
ally recovered. 

The  next  robbery  and  raid  occurred  a  few  months 
later  at  Richmond,  Mo.,  where  the  James  and  Youn- 
ger boys,  with  a  gang-  of  ten  other  desperadoes,  ter- 
roized  and  looted  the  town,  robbing1  the  private  bank 
of  Hughes  &  Mason  of  some  $5,000. 

The  robbers  next  began  an  attack  upon  the  jail, 
which  at  that  time  held  a  number  of  prisoners  whose 
arrest,  it  was  claimed,  was  due  to  the  expression  of 
secession  sentiment.  The  jailer,  B.  G.  Griffin,  and 
his  son,  fifteen  years  of  age,  were  at  the  jail,  and 
they  received  their  assailants  with  remarkable  brav- 
ery. The  boy  stationed  himself  behind  a  tree,  and 
was  emptying  a  revolver  ?n  the  face  of  the  outlaws 
when  he  was  surrounded  and  shot  to  death.  Mr. 
Griffin,  seeing  the  fate  of  his  brave  boy,  rushed  up, 
and,  standing  over  the  lifeless  body,  fought  like  the 
frenzied  man  he  was  until,  pierced  by  seven  bullets, 
he  fell  dead  across  the  bleeding  and  lifeless  body  of 
his  son.  By  this  time  the  citizens  recovered  their 
lost  nerves,  and  from  a  score  of  windows  there 
poured  the  rifle  and  pistol  flame,  yet  throughout  the 
Combat  not  a  single  robber  was  harmed. 


£)EEDS  OF   DARING 


CHAPTER  X. 
ROBBING  THE  "DAVENPORT  LIMITED." 

HOW  THE  JAMES  BOYS*  GANG  HELD  UP  A  WELL-FILLED 
TRAIN  AND  MURDERED  AND  ROBBED  THE  PASSENGERS. 

One  of  the  most  notorious' as  well  as  brutal  rob- 
beries committed  by  the  Jair^-s  Boys  gang  was  that 
of  the  Davenport  Limited,  from  Kansas  City  for 
Davenport,  Iowa,  on  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and 
Pacific  Railroad.  July  I5th,  1881,  it  left  Kansas 
City  at  6.30  P.  M.,  and  was  due  a*.  Davenport  the 
following  morning,  running  over  the  southwestern 
division  of  the  road.  The  make-up  of  the  train  was  a 
combination  baggage  aud  express  car,  a  smoker,  two 
day  coaches  and  a  sleeper.  There  was  a  fair  num- 
ber of  passengers  on  board  and  everything  was  going 
along  nicely,  when  the  train  stopped  at  Cameron,  a 
small  station,  some  sixty- four  miles  from  the  start- 
ing point,  where  several  rough  looking  men  got 
aboard  and  seated  themselves  in  the  smoker.  Al- 
though the  lights  were  dim,  there  was  sufficient  light 
to  see  these  men — four  in  number — were  deeply  en- 
grossed in  discussing  some  plans  of  r,  scheme  they 
had  on  hand. 

Finally  the  train   rolled  into  Winston.     The  stop 


Robbing  the  "Davenport  Limited. 


DEEDS  OF  DARING 


59 


was  a  short  one,  but  during  the  few  seconds  that  the 
cars  lay  beside  the  platform  several  things  happened. 
One  of  the  four  men  in  the  smoker  carelessly  placed 
his  white  handcerchief  against  the  window-pane,  and 
held  it  there  for  a  moment.  Outside  it  was  very 
dark  and  quiet,  only  the  monotonous  chrugging  of 
the  engine  disturbing  the  silence 

Waiting  until  the  trainmen  were  on  board  again, 
two  men  slipped  across  the  platform  and  mounted  the 
front  end  of  the  baggage  car  next  to  the  tender.  Sev- 
eral other  dark  figures  flitted  toward  the  train,  and 
two  more  men  swung  on  the  platform  between  the 
baggage  car  and  the  smoker. 

Then,  without  the  slightest  warning,  the  tragedy 
began. 

As  the  two  men  climbed  to  the  platform  between 
the  smoker  and  the  baggage  car  the  conductor  swung 
his  lantern  from  the  front  plat  form  of  the  smoker 
as  a  signal  for  the  engineer  to  go  ahead.  Turning, 
he  entered  the  car,  the  two  men  behind  him  follow- 
ing with  a  rush.  At  the  same  instant  the  four  men 
inside  the  smoker  sprang  forward  with  drawn  re- 
volvers. 

There  was  a  yell  of  "Throw  up  your  hands!"  and 
a  revolver  exploded,  the  flame  shooting  toward  the 
ceiling  of  the  car. 

The  conductor  dropped  his  lantern  and  made  a 
movement  of  resistance.  The  next  instant  a  pistol 
shot  rang  out,  and  he  fell  dead  on  the  platform. 


60  JAMES   BOYS 

The  other  men  stood  near  the  doorway,  close  beside 
the  tall  brigand,  who  was  now  recognized  as  Jesse 
James,  holding  their  revolvers  so  as  to  cover  the  pas- 
sengers in  the  seats.  Just  then  the  sleeping  car  con- 
ductor entered  the  car  from  the  other  end  and  was 
promptly  shot  the  whole  length  of  the  car. 

In  the  smoker  the  rapid  discharge  of  revolvers 
formed  a  dense,  white  smoke  in  the  forward  end  of 
the  car.  The  passengers,  seeing  an  opportunity  to 
flee,  were  the  more  desirous  to  escape,  as  one  of  the 
desperadoes  now  proposed  to  "go  through  the  gang." 

Several  men  sprang  up,  among  them  a  Mason 
named  John  McCullough,  who  had  a  heavy  stone 
trowel  in  his  hand.  As  he  jumped  into  the  aisle, 
still  clinging  to  his  trowel,  he  unconsciously  swung 
it  near  the  head  of  one  of  the  outlaws.  The  brigand 
immediately  shot  McCullough  through  the  head. 
Fatally  wounded  though  he  was,  the  stone  mason 
managed  to  stagger  to  the  rear  door,  where  he  fell 
off  the  platform  and,  like  Conductor  Westphal,  was 
afterward  foand  dead  in  the  ditch. 

This  third  xnurder  completed  the  panic  of  the  pas- 
sengers. Yelling  with  fear,  and  pursued  by  the  jeers 
of  the  murderers,  they  fled  to  the  rear  of  the  train, 
fighting  with  each  other  to  get  ahead.  When  the  car 
was  empty  the  two  young  girls,  who  had  shown  the 
greatest  courage  throughout  the  whole  scene,  left 
their  seats  and  followed  the  others, 

Thg  utmost  confusion  now  reigned  in  the  train. 

On  the  rear  platform  of  the  first  day-coach,  when 


DEEDS  OF  DARINCl  6l 

the  mob  of  passengers  came  tearing  through  the 
train,  was  C.  F.  Chase,  of  the  Topeka  Police  Depart- 
ment. With  him  was  Harry  Thomas,  the  rear  brake- 
man.  After  the  crov/d  had  passed  him,  Chase  looked 
forward  through  the  cars.  Three  or  four  terrified 
passengers  were  crawling  under  the  seats  of  the  day- 
coach.  Chase  drew  his  hair-trigger  revolver. 

"For  God's  sake,  put  that  up!"  Thomas  cried. 
"They've  got  the  train.  We've  got  to  stop  the  en- 
gineer." 

Chase  still  stood  with  his  pistol  in  his  hand,  watch- 
ing the  men  in  the  smoker,  and  Thomas  swun%  out 
from  the  platform,  waving  his  lantern  frantically  to 
the  engineer,  knowing  that  every  rod  they  went  from 
Jie  station  meant  a  rod  farther  from  help. 

The  train  continued  to  run  on.  Either  the  engineer 
did  not  see  the  signal  or  there  was  trouble  on  the 
locomotive. 

"I'm  going  to  stop  him !"  Thomas  cried.  He  sprang 
into  the  car  and  pulled  down  the  cord  that  controlled 
the  automatic  air-brakes,  setting  the  brakes  on  every 
car  on  the  train  anc  stopping  it  with  a  jolt.  He 
swung  out  again  from  the  platform,  shouting,  *'RoD- 
bers !" 

But  the  desperadoes  on  ths  train  knew  tinir  busi- 
ness They  wc/e  .>repar«d  for  just  such  an  emer- 
gency, and  they  acted  promptly.  As  sooa  at  the  air- 
brakes stopped  the  train,  the  gang— in  which  there 
were  at  least  twelve  man — separated,  some  running 


63  JAMES   BOYS 

to  the  engine,  the  others  making  for  the  express  can 
As  the  first  two  ruffians  jumped  into  the  cab,  re- 
volvers in  hand,  the  fireman  jumped  from  the  other 
side.  Running  back  to  the  rear  platform  of  the 
smokecx  he  cor: sealed  himself  in  the  darkies  on  the 
lower  steps. 

The  engineer  was  trying  to  release  the  train  from 
the  grip  of  the  automatic  brakes.    One  of  the  board- 
ing party  clapped  a  revolver  to  the  engineer     head. 
"What  in  —  are  you  stopping  for?    Pull  ahead!" 
the  man  shouted. 

"I  can't,"  the  engineer  said.    "Some  'me's  put    J 
the  automatic." 

A  robber's  pistol  flashed  in  the  darkness  and  a  bul- 
let whistled  by  his  head  The  next  instant  the  en- 
gineer had  tossed  the  cab  lantern  out  of  the  window 
and  was  out  on  the  running  board  of  the  engine 
from  which  he  reached  the  pilot  and  lay  down  across 
it,  to  be  safe  from  the  robber's  fire.  The  Jame* 
gang  then  began  ransacking  the  train  and  went  irom 
car  to  car,  shooting  right  and  left  those  who  Mi'ered 
the  slightest  resistance.  The  car  floors  were  covered 
with  blood,  and  the  cars  perforated  with  bullets.  No 
less  than  nine  men  were  killed,  and  their  bodies  lay 
in  the  car  aisles  They  robbed  everybody,  battering 
in  the  doors  of  the  express  and  mail  cars  and  rob- 
bing the  safes  of  both.  The  express  and  mail  clerks 
were  among  those  kiltes*  lor  trying  to  protect  ttwir 
safes. 


DEEDS  OF  DARING 


The  James  gang  got  over  $40,000  out  of  this  rob- 
bery, which  was  divided  among  them,  as  was  their 
usual  cutom,  tor  despite  their  being  suck 
robbers,  they  were  fair  to  each  othefe 


JAMES  BOYS 


CHArfER  XI. 
A  BOLD  DAYLIGHT   ROBBERY. 

HOW  AN  EXPREtS  CAR  WAS  ROBBED  OF  $7O,OOO  IN 
BROAD  DAYLIGHT  BY  THE  JAMES  BOYS  AND  THEIR 
GANG. 

The  task  of  holding  up  a  long  train  and  robbing 
the  express  car  of  over  $70,000,  in  broad  daylight, 
is  not  an  easy  one  that  would  be  essayed  by  the 
average  train  robber,  but  that  is  just  what  the  James 
gang  did  to  the  car  containing  that  amount  in  Calu- 
met and  Heckla  miners'  pay  envelopes. 

This  was  back  in  1880  and  in  the  days  when  the 
name  of  the  James  boys  was  the  synonym  of  deadly 
daring  and  expert  highwaymanism.  One  of  the  robbers 
held  up  the  engineer  at  the  point  of  a  rifle,  another 
chased  the  fireman  down  the  track,  while  the  rest  of 
the  gang  broke  into  the  express  car,  killed  the  mes- 
senger and  got  the  money. 

The  engineer  and  fireman  were  joking  in  the  cab 
about  the  trip  and  the  joy  pay  day  always  brought 
to  the  miners.  The  conductor  paid  no  attention  to 
the  passengers  except  to  collect  their  fares  and  chat 
a  bit  with  a  few  whom  he  knew.  It  was  9.50  when 
the  train  wheezed  up  to  a  little  shanty  in  the  woods, 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  65 

dignified  with  the  name  of  Stanley.  Several  persons 
alighted  and  the  conductor  gave  the  signal  to  go 
ahead  when  the  outbreak  occurred. 

With  the  suddeness  of  'a  lightning  flash,  a  tall 
fellow  with  a  black  mask  over  the  upper  part  of  his 
face,  arose  from  between  the  engine  and  tender  with 
a  big  revolver  in  each  hand  and  advised  the  engineer 
and  fireman  to  throw  up  their  hands  quick.  They 
instantly  obeyed. 

There  was  seventy  thousand  dollars  aboard  that 
train,  and  he  was  the  engineer  in  charge,  on  whom 
its  safety  depended.  But  then  there  was  that  gun,  on 
which  his  life  depended,  and  it  yawned  in  an  ugly 
way.  Discretion  was  much  better  than  valor  under 
such  circumstances. 

Back  in  the  express  car  things  were  moving  at  a 
swift  pace  also.  At  the  moment  the  shot  was  fired 
from  the  tender  two  more  men,  masked  and  envel- 
oped in  linen  dusters,  like  the  first,  sprang  up,  also 
apparently  from  nowhere,  and  forced  themselves  into 
the  car. 

It  was  only  the  work  of  an  instant  for  the  robbers 
to  enter  the  express  car  and  cover  the  messenger 
with  their  pistols.  Then  they  clearly  and  concisely 
stated  that  they  were  after  about  seventy  thousand 
dollars  of  Calumet  and  Heckla  money  and  proposed 
to  'have  it  even  if  4hey  had  to  kill  off  all  the  express 
messengers  in  Christendom.  The  messenger  did  just 
as  the  others  had  done  and  threw  up  his  hands.  When 
directed  to  open  the  safe  and  pass  out  the  two  big 


66  JAMFO  BOYS 

sacks  containing  the  money,  he  did  so  without  a 
word. 

No  sooner  was  the  swag  in  a  bag  than  the  big 
fellow  fired  a  single  shot.  It  was  not  for  the  mes- 
senger, however,  but  a  signal  to  let  their  pals  know 
they  had  the  money  and  were  ready  to  escape.  An 
answering  shot  came  from  the  front  of  the  train. 
With  that  the  men  jumped  off  the  train  and  made 
for  the  woods,  but  not  before  bidding  the  engineer 
to  "keep  her  going  for  a  hundred  miles  or  so." 

There  was  a  great  hurrah  when  the  train  reached 
Heckla  and  the  news  of  the  robbery  spread.  A  whole 
army  of  detectives  were  put  to  work  on  the  case,  and 
many  of  them  followed  false  trails,  but  the  Pinker- 
ton  men,  who  were  also  at  work,  sized  it  up  right 
away  as  another  of  the  James  Boys'  jobs. 


68  JAMES    BOYS 

tertainment  was  the  races.  Ethan  Allen  was  to  trot 
against  a  running  mate  at  five  o'clock.  The  people 
were  crowding  into  the  fair  grounds  between  four 
and  five  in  masses.  The  ticket  sellers  and  the  gate- 
men  were  doing  a  roaring  trade.  Mr.  Hall,  the  secre- 
tary and  treasurer  of  the  association,  had  counted  up 
the  receipts  of  the  day  and  found  the  same  reached 
nearly  $10,000  in  hard  cash.  Arrangements  had  been 
made  to  bank  this  money  at  the  First  National  Bank, 
though  it  was  considerably  after  banking  hours. 

Mr.  Hall  called  one  of  his  trusty  assistants  and 
gave  him  a  tin  box  containing  the  money,  and  sent 
him  to  deposit  it  in  the  bank  according  to  arrange- 
ment. The  idea  of  this  box  being  stolen  in  a  street 
crowded  with  tens  of  thousands  of  people  was  never 
dreamed  of.  It  would  have  been  regarded  as  quite 
preposterous  to  think  anyone  would  have  the  daring 
to  attempt  so  wild  an  exploit.  The  young  man  who 
had  charge  of  this  box  started  off,  carrying  the  treas- 
ure in  his  right  band. 

Just  at  this  moment  the  general  attention  of  the 
crowd  was  attracted  by  the  clatter  of  hoofs.  Seven 
heavily  armed  horsemen  rode  along,  the  leaders  be- 
ing recognized  as  Jesse  and  Frank  James.  Their 
dress  and  manner  was  such  as  to  mislead  many  spec- 
tators into  the  belief  that  they  were  a  part  of  the 
show  contingent  of  the  fair.  They  realized  their 
mistake  when  the  horsemen  were  seen  to  surround 
the  man  with  the  money  box,  and  as  one  of  then? 
felled  him  with  a  blow  from  the  butt  of  a  big  re- 


DEEDS  OF   DARING  69 

rolver,  the  others  grabbed  the  treasure  and  all  rode 
away  like  the  wind.  So  quickly  was  it  accomplished 
that  although  there  were  thousands  of  people  all 
about,  they  were  all  too  surprised  to  even  start  in 
pursuit  of  the  robbers  and  they  escaped  with  ease. 

The  robbery  of  the  Craig  store  at  Bentonville,  Ark., 
was  another  instance  of  sleek  action  on  the  part  of 
the  James  gang.  The  firm  did  a  large  business  on  a 
strictly  cash  basis  and  therefore  always  had  consider- 
able money  in  the  store.  Mr.  Craig  and  his  son  were 
alone  in  the  store  when  the  two  James  brothers  en- 
tered as  though  to  make  a  purchase.  "What  can  I 
do  for  you,  gentlement?"  asked  the  elder  Craig  affa- 
bly, as  he  approached  from  the  rear  of  the  store. 

"You  can  keep  quiet,"  was  the  blunt  answer  of 
the  foremost  of  the  men  as  he  presented  a  revolver  in 
each  hand  and  continued:  "If  either  of  you  speak  a 
word  or  stir  an  inch,  I'll  blow  your  brains  out,  so  if 
you  value  your  d d  lives,  why  be  quiet!" 

Looking  round  the  Craigs  saw  two  other  men  keep- 
ing" guard  at  the  door.  Resistance  was  utterly  impos- 
sible. The  safe  door  was  open;  it  was  the  work  of  a 
moment  to  rifle  it  of  its .  contents.  But  the  refebers 
were  disappointed.  They  expected  to  make  a  big 
haul,  but  the  Craigs  had  banked  all  their  cash  on 
hand  at  four  o'clock,  and  the  safe  only  contained 
about  $150.  This  greatly  disgusted  the  rogues,  so 
they  swept  up  about  $200  worth  of  valuable  silks  and 
went  as  quickly  as  they  came,  leaving  strict  charge 


70  Robbing  the  Craig  Store,  Bentonville,  Ark. 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  J\ 

that  if  they  attempted  to  raise  an  alarm  before  they 
had  time  to  leave  the  town,  they  would  shoot  them 
dead  at  sight.  * 

Another  bank  robbery  of  note  which  was  success- 
fully accomplished  by  the  James  boys,  was  that  of  the 
Savings  Bank  of  St.  Genevieve,  an  old  Catholic  town 
of  Missouri.  The  town  is  more  than  a  century  old — 
the  home  of  the  French  aristocracy.  The  residents 
were  among  the  most  thrifty  of. the  State,  and  nearly 
all  of  their  money  went  into  the  bank,  instead  of 
being  invested  in  the  many  wildcat  ^schemes  of  the 
day.  The  vaults  of  the  old  bank  often  contained  as 
much  as  $100,000  at  a  time,  and  it  was  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  financial  institutions  of 
Missouri.  Its  fame  reached  the  ears  of  the  James 
-Boys  and  quite  naturally  its  looting  followed. 

It  was  a  beautiful  spring  morning,  the  27th  of  May, 
1873.  St.  Genevieve  was  looking  its  very  loveliest. 
Mr.  O.  D.  Harris,  the  cashier  of  the  bank,  accom- 
panied by  F.  A,  Rozier,  a  son  of  the  Hon.  Forman  A. 
Rozier.  the  president  of  the  bank,  had  left  his  garden 
home  all  bright  and  cheerful,  little  dreaming  what  an 
episode  was  at  hand.  The  cashier  and  his  .  young 
companion  arrived  at  the  bank,  the  door  swung  open, 
and  suddenly  Mr.  Harris  and  young  Rozier  were  con- 
fronted by  four  armed  men  and  accosted  thus: 
"We  have  eome  to  help  you  to  open  the  bank. 

Open  the  safe  instau.y.  d n  you;  we  have  no 

'time  to  lose/' 


}^2  JAMES    BOYS 

"J  am  helpless  and  cannot  resist  you,"  replied  the 
overpowered  Mr.  Harris. 

Meantime  another  of  the  robbers  pointed  a  pistol 
at 'the  head  of  young  Rozier,  and  called  out: 

"You  keep  still,  d d  little  rat,  if  you  don't  want 

to  have  your  brains  blown  out  in  an  instant!" 

"I?  What  for?"  asked  the  young  clerk,  who  had 
shown  signs  of  desiring  to  create  an  alarm. 

"Not  another  word,  young  devil,"  said  his  stern- 
faced  foe ;  "that's  enough !  A  blabbing  tongue  can  be 
stopped  d- d  easy." 

Taking  advantage  of  the  moment,  and  desiring  that 
these  strange  visitors  should  have  all  his  room  and 
none  of  his  company,  he  made  a  bold  leap  and  sprang 
down  the  steps  of  the  bank  into  the  street.  As  he  fled 
the  fellow  fired  at  him  and  cried:  "Halt!  halt!  you 
wretched  young  cuss!" 

Several  shots  were  fired  after  him,  one  grazing 
his  shoulder,  but  he  managed  to  dodge  the  bullets  and 
got -away,  giving  the  alarm.  Noting  the  townsmen 
were  arming  themselves,  the  robbers  hastily  com- 
pleted the;-  t"^k  of  looting  the  bank  of  some  $70,000 
and  me  .lilting  their  horses  ro.de  swiftly  away. 

The  next  event  on  their  criminal  calendar  #as  tho 
robbery  of  a  train  in  Nebraska.  A  regular  meeting 
of  the  gang-  was  held  at  which  a  number  of  projects 
were  discussed. 

Comanche  ,Tony — a  desperate  Texas  ranger. — was 
added  to  the  plundering  brotherhood.  The  gang. 


DEEDS   OF    DARING  73 

comprising-  the  James  boys,  the  Youngers,  Bob  Hoore, 
and  this  Texas  Tony,  met — each,  of  course,  coming1 
different  ways — at  a  point  about  fourteen  miles  east 
of  the  city  of  Council  Bluffs,  on  the  Chicago,  Rock 
.id  and  Pacific  Railway. 

The  train  was  due  to  pass  their  point  of  ambush 
about  three  o'clock  "in  the  morning.  All  night  they 
waited  and  watched,  scarcely  exchanging  a  wold  with 
each  other,  and  when  they  did,  not  above  a  whisper. 
Three  or  four  rails  were  loosened  and  torn  from 
their  places.  Several  cross-ties  were  placed  in  posi- 
tion to  be  used  the  moment  they  were  required.  They 
worked  and  watched  and  waited  in  silence.  They  had 
chosen  a  most  suitable  spot.  It  was  fourteen  miles 
from  Council  Bluffs,  six  miles  from  Adair,  and  about 
the  same  distance  from  Des  Moines.  There  was  not 
a  single  human  habitation  for  miles  around. 

The  rumbling  'of  the  train  was  heard  in  the  dis- 
tance. The  gang  set  to  work  with  dogged  determina- 
tion, resorting  to  the  old  game  of  piling  railroad  ties 
on  the  track  to  derail  the  engine.  It  succeeded  well. 
The  train  came  bowling  along  at  a  good  r;  te  of  speed, 
struck  the  ties  and  not  only  derailed  the  engine,  but 
upset  it  as  well,  killing  the  brave  engit  eer  in  the 
wreck.  Then  this -band  of  desperadoes  broke  loose 
like  the  demons  of  hell,  firing  their  pistils  in  the 
windows  of  the  coaches  at  the  panic  stricken  passen- 
gers. When  they  were  sufficiently  cowed,  they  were 
systematically  robbed  of  everything  of  value  they 
possessed. 


74  JAMES   BOYS 

The  express  car  was  broken  into  and  the  .::::senger 
in  charge  had  his  arm  broken  and  was  forced  to  un- 
lock the  safe.  The  robbers  secured  some  $6,000,  and 
the  poor  guardian  of  the  mails  had  his  watch  taken 
and  ten  dollars,  the  only  money  he  possessed.  After 
this  every  passenger  was  searched  and  robbed  of 
money  and  jewelry.  The  spoils  were  put  in  a  sack 
and  the  masked  robbers  sought"  their  horses,  and  as 
the  light  broadened  that  peaceful  summer  morning 
they  took  their  way  southward,  $25,000  richer  for 
their  dreadful  exploit. 

A  reward  of  $50,000  was  offered  for  their  arrtat 
But  it  was  offered  in  vain. 


DEEDS  OF   BARING  75 


CHAPmR  XIII. 

ROBBERY  OF  THE  CHICAGO  AND  ALTON 
EXPRESS. 

THE  JAMES  BOYS'  FAMOUS  HOLD-UP  NEAR  GLENDALE, 
MISSOURI,  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT,  WITH  DESPERATE 
PURSUIT  AND  CAPTURE  OF  SOME  OF  THE  GANG. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  September  7th,  1881, 
ten  or  a  dozen  rougly  clad  men  drifted  into  a  farm 
house  a  mile  or  so  west  of  Glendale,  Missouri,  in 
the  very  heart  of  the  hold-up  district.  They  ranged 
in  age  from  youth  to  half  a  century  and  looked  like 
farmers  from  the  adjacent  wheat  fields.  That  is 
their  attire  denoted  peaceful  farmers,  but  their  "heavy 
revolvers  and  repeating  rifles  did  not.  They  were 
several  hours  assembling,  and  when  the  last  men — 
v  ho,  by  the  way,  were  the  James  Boys,  had  arrived — 
a  conference  was  held  in  a  carefully  guarded  loom". 

As  soon  as  the. last  arrival'had  taken  his  place  at  a 
large  table,  one  of  the  company,  a  tall,  determined- 
looking  fellow  with  a  sneering,  treacherous  face, 
formally  addressed  the  meeting,  tapping  with  the 
muzzle  of  his  revolver  upon  a  small  railroad  map 
spread  out  before  him. 

"There  isn't  any  talk  necessary,  boys,"  he   said. 


Finding  a  Dead  Outlaw  After  the  Train  Robbery. 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  77 

"I  sent  for  you  to  come  ready  to  take  the  train,  under 
my  direction." 

A  chorus  of  voices  announced  the  willingness  of 
the  men  to  follow  their  chief. 

The  tall  man  ran  his  eye  over  the  cirowd,  and  then 
looked  at  the  map.  ^ 

"It's  dea£  easy,"  he  said.  "We're  going  to  do  it 
tonight,  and  we'll  make  a  whole  lot  of  money.  The 
C.  and  A.  passenger  goes  through  this  ctlt  here  be- 
tween Glendale  and  Independence,  about  nine  o'clock 
tonight.  We'll  do  it  there. 

'\She  always  carries  a  lot  of  United  States  Express 
money,  &and  those  big  excursion  parties  are  always 
going  through  besides — if  we  need  them." 

TJ^e  men  crowded  around  the  chief  as  he  proceeded 
with  the  details  of  the  robbery,  agreeing  to  all  of  his 
proposals.  None  of  the  band  paid  any  attention*to  a 
dark-faced,  middle-aged  woman  who  brought  some 
liquor  to  the  table,  and  who  listened  eagerly  to  every 
word  of  the  conversation,  occasionally  casting  spite- 
ful glances  at  the  chief  and  at  a  short  man  whom  the 
former  addressed  as  "Dick  Little,"  and  who  seemed 
to  be  second  in  command.  . 

After  their  conference  of  half  hour  or  so,  the  rob- 
bers disappeared,  after  agreeing  to  meet  near  .the 
railroad  tracks  that  night.  Jesse  James  mounted  his 
horse  and  rode  away,  his  followers  scattering  in 
every  direction,  while  a  sinister-looking  woman,  who 
seemed  in  charge  of  the  house,  gathered  up  a  few 
artir1",  of  nothing  and  left  the  house  also. 


78  JAMES   BOYS 

At  tnu  cut  selected  by  the  chief  of  the  gang,  the 
Missouri  Pacific  crossed  the  line  of  the  Chicago  and 
Alton.  It  was  considered  a  dangerous  point  for  nu- 
merous reasons.  Glendale,  only  three  miles  away, 
had  been  the  scene  of  several  railroad  robberies  with- 
in the  past  few  years. 

Aside  from  the  bad  reputation  of  the  district,  the 
crossing  in  the  cut,  with  its  steep  sides  and  thickly 
wooded  summits,  was  sa  constant  menace  to  passing 
trains.  Knowing  this,  it  was  the  custom  for  en- 
gineers, especially  on  night  trains,  to  slow  up  a  little 
just  before  entering  the  ravine. 

It  was  due  to  this  fact,  and  to  the  quick  eye  of 
Engineer  Foote,  that  the  Chicago  and  Alton  passen- 
ger train,  west-bound,  to  Kansas  City,  owed  its  escape 
from  derailment  on  the  night  of  September  7. 

It  was  nearly  nine  o'clock  when  -train  Number 
Forty-Eight  entered  the  east  end  of  the  cut.  Luckily, 
it  was  a  fairly  clea/  night,  for  just  before  the  loco- 
motive reached  the  deepest  part  of  the  cut  Engineer 
Foote  saw' a  light — as  of  a  small  torch. — flare  up 
and  wave  across  the  track.  He  saw  something  else, 
too,  that  made  him  jam  down  his  brakes  with  every 
ounce  of  pressure,  not  a  moment  too  soon. 

The  gleam  of  the .  headlight  showed  Foote  a  pile 
of  rocks  heaped  up  five  feet  high  between  the  rails 
and  surmounted  by  a  small  stick  with  a  red  flag  tied 
to  the  end  flapping  in-  the  wind.  The  engine  ran 


I  ZEDS  OF  DA  79 

right  up  to  the  obstruction,  the  pile    ffestmg  itself 
in  among  the  stones  as  the  train  stopped. 

Just  beyond  the  pile  of  rocks  stood  a  tall  masked 
man,  holding  a  revolver  in  each  hand.  In  the  glare 
of  the  headlight,  Engineer  Foote  "could  see  the 
whites  of  the  fellow's  eyes  as  he  stared  into  the 
cab/' 

Foote  knew  then  that  the  train  was  held  up  by 
road-agents,  but  there  was  no  time  for  him  to  back 
away.  The  masked  man  waved  his  revolver  toward 
the  bank  and  shouted: 

"Now,  men,  to  your  work!    Fire  away!" 

A  rolling  discharge  of  firearms  came  in  response 
to  his  order. 

After  thoroughly  cowing  the  train  crew  and  pas- 
sengers, the  robbers  went  though  the  train  and 
"cleaned  up"  everybody.  They  even  took  the  por- 
ter's tips  and  his  dollar  watch.  "They  went  through 
the  bunch  with  a  fine-toothed  comb,"  as  a  drummer, 
whose  samples  were  even  taken,  expressed  it. 

As  the  looters  went  through  the  cars,  each  person 
was  compiled  under  threat  of  death  to  empty  the 
contents  of  his  or  her^  pockets  into  the  huge  sack, 
where  everything — money,  watches,  and  articles  of 
jewelry — was  jumbled  together  indiscriminately. 
Neither  women  or  children  were  spared 

There  w£re  a  number  of  emigrants  aboard,  who 
begged  to  be  allowed  to  retain  at  least  a  small  part 
of  their  money — all  that  they  h?d  in  the  world.  They 
were  left  nothfilg  of  value. 


8o  JAMES  r.ovs 

Women  -wtiv.  .-mpelled  to  sit  on  the  floor  «..>  cne 
cars  while  the  robbers  stripped  them  of  their  jewelry. 
Valuables  that  had  been  hidden  in  the  carseats  and 
elsewhere  were  hunted  up  and  tumbled  into  the  sack: 
Every  car^  was  swept  clean.- 

On  the  train  was  an  excursion  party  of  fo/ty  per- 
sons from  Penn  Yaii,  New  York,  going  West  in 
charge  of  the  regular  traveling  agent  of  the  Fort 
ScottVoad  for  the  purpose  of  buying  land.  From 
this  party  alone  the  robbers  took  over  six  thouand 
dollars  in  money  and  valuables. 

While  this  part  of  the  robbery  was  in  p. ogress  an 
emigrant  from  one  of  the  forward  cars  came  run- 
ning after  the,  robbers,  half-crazed  with  grief  and 
fear,  crying  to  them  to  give  him  some  of  his  money 
for  his  wife  and  children.  As  the  man  passed  the 
plat  form  from  one  car  to  another  he  was  fired  upon, 
but  was  dragged  back  uninjured  by  his  friends. 
•  Meanwhile*  the  passengers  in  the  Pullman  cars  in 
the  rear  of  the  train  were  trying  to  conceal  their 
valuables  with  frantic  haste.  Several  of  the  ladies 
in  the  car  managed  to  secrete  their  valuables  about 
their  clothing,  but  even  this  would  not  have  saved 
them  from  search,  and  the  surrender  of  them,  but 
for  the  fact  of  an  unexpected  interruption. 

It  occurred  in  this  manner.  The  conductor  had 
been  rounded  up  with  the  rest  of  the  crew,  after 
he  had  been  fired  on  twice. 

While  the  robbers  were  going  through  the  coaches 
it  suddenly  occurred  to  him  that  a  freight  train  vas 


DEEDS   OF  DARIN6  Si 

following  his  train  West  and  must  be  about  due  at 
the  cut,  where  the  passenger  train  had  now  been 
lying  about  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes. , 

Hazelbacher  knew  that  Frank  Burton,  the  rear 
brakeman,  ought  to  be  on  the  rear  platform  of  the 
sleeper,  and  he  shouted  to  him.  Burton  was  at  his 
station.  He  heard  the  call  from  the  conductor,  and 
knew  what  it  meant.  At  the  same  time  he  heard 
the  robbers  entering-  the  other  end  of  the  sleeper  and 
heard  them  call  out  to  the  Pullman  passengers  that 
they  were  "coming  in  and  going  through  the  car." 

In  spite  of  the  proximity  of  the  bandits,  and  of 
the  guard  with  rifles  on  top  of  the  bank,  Burton  de- 
termined to  risk  getting  back  up  the  track  to  flag 
the  freight  train.  Holding  two  Pullman  lamps  in 
front  of  him,  he  started  back  over  the  line. 

At  that  moment  he  heard  the  train  approaching1, 
and  he  knew  there  was  no  time  for  explanations.  He 
started  off  top  speed. 

Before  he  had  gone  a  car  length  the  men  on  the 
bluff  opened  up  on  him  with  their  rifles.  The  bullets 
came  pinging  all  around  him,  striking  the  rails  and 
stones  as  he  ran  for  his  life,  hugging  the  Pullman 
lamps  in  his  arms.  Twenty-five  or  thirty  shots  were 
fired  at  him,  two  of  them  going  through  his  coat. 

Then  he  heard  Engineer  Foote,  of  the  passenger 
train,  call  out: 

''For  God's  sake,  don't  shoot  the  boy;  he's  trying 
to  save  the  lives  of  all  these  people!" 

la  the  meantime  the  brakeman   had  managed  to 


&2  JAMES  BOYS 

signal  the  approaching"  freight  train  with  his  lan- 
terns and  it  came  to  a  stop  within  twenty  feet  of  the 
rear  Pullman.  The  robbers  by  this  time  realized 
that  the  .freight  crew  would  reinforce  the  men  of 
the  passenger  train,  hurriedly  packed  the  last  of  their 
booty  in  small  bags  and  made  their  escape  over  the 
hills  as  fast  as  their  horses  could  carry  them. 

Great  excitement  followed  this  robbery,  and  the 
authorities  made  strenuous1  efforts  to  capture  the 
gang.  At  first  it  war  not  suspected  the  James  Boys 
had  a  hand  in  it,  but  later  on  certain  circumstances 
cropped  up,  which  put  the  blame  fulty  on  them. 

The  theory  of  the  officers  concerning  the  com- 
position of  the  band  was  quickly  confirmed,  though 
in  an  unexpected  manner. 

A  dark,  middle-aged  woman  called ,  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  road  in  Chicago 
and  gave  information  which  convinced  the  authori- 
ties thd*t  they  had  to  deal  with  a  dangerous  league. 

The  woman,  who  sought  revenge  for  personal 
wrongs,  revealed  the  ~vhole  plot.  She  gave  names, 
and  described  in  derail  the  proceedings  of  the  plot- 
ters. 

The  woman's  information  was  confirmed.  Investi- 
gations by  the  railroad  officials  showed  that  the  rob- 
bery had  been  planned  by  the  James  Boys. 

To  the  east  and  west  for  one  hundred  miles  picket 
lines  were  thrown  out  to  pen  in  the  robbers.  All  the 
members  of  the  road-agent  league  were  said  to  have 
their  homes  within  thirty  miles  of  Qendale,  but  it 


DE8DS  OF  DARIfcv,  83 

was  thought  probable  that  they  might  scattc*  for  a 
time,  to  throw  the  officers  off  the  scent. 

Bodies  of  picked  men  were  sent  in  from  the  cor- 
don to  rake  the  guarded  district,  and  on  September 
8,  the  day  following  the  robbery,  the  advance  guard 
of  captives  came  in.  The  sheriff  of  Saline  County, 
with  his  posse,  rounded  up  Creed  Chapman  and  Sam 
Chapman — the  latter  a  mere  boy — and  John  Ziegler, 
all  taken  with  weapons  in  their  hands. 

A  fourth  robber,  John  Wilkinson,  alias  Nolen,  was 
arrested  the  same  day,  after  he  had  taken  a  train 
to  Kansas  City,  where  he  was  endeavoring  to  gather 
information  about  the  movements  of  the  officers,  for 
his  comrades  now  realized  that  they  were  caught  in 
a  trap. 

Once  landed  in  jail,  young  Chapman  weakened, 
giving-  the  names  of  the  other  members  of  the  band, 
in  the  hope  of  saving  himself. 

With  their  usual  good  luck,  the  James  Boys  es- 
caped capture  and  pursuit  of  them  was  temporarily 
abandoned.  The  others  were  sent  to  prison  for  long 
terms. 


JAMES   BOYS 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
SOME  OF  THE  JAMES  BOYS'  FAILURES. 

A  NUMBER  OF  CLEVERLY  PLANNED  ROBBERIES  THAT 
DID  NOT  SUCCEED,  AND  WHICH  CAME  NEAR  RESULT- 
ING DISASTROUSLY  FOR  THE  DARING  BANDITS. 

To  successfully  get  away  with  it  is  the  most  im- 
pdrtant  part  of  the  game  of  the  train  robber.  Not 
only  must  the  plans  be  perfectly  laid,  and  the  whole 
scheme  worked  out  to  the  final  end,  but  the  get  away 
at  the  finish  must  be  perfectly  -arranged  for,  in  order 
that  the  escape  may  be  made  before  the  sleuths  of 
the  law  are  on  the  trail  or  a  volley  of  shots  poured 
into  the  escaping  party  by  the  train  crew  and  passen- 
gers. Although  generally  successful,  the  James  Boys  , 
weare  by  no  means  infallible,  and  not  a  few  of  their 
cleverly  laid  plans  went  wrong  and  disaster  followed,  . 
even  resulting  in  the  death  of  several  of  their  gang, 
from  which  luckily  for  themselves,  the  bandit  chief 
escaped.  It  is  when  the  robber's  back  is  turned, 
when  the  attention  is  diverted  or  when  he  is  riding 
away  from  the  scene  of  his  crime,  that  a  splendid 
opportunity  is  presented  to  a  good  marksman  to 
kill  with  a  Winchester  or  revolver.  Here  are  several 
cases  in  point: 

The  Helena  express,  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 


DEKDS   OF   DARING  85 

road,  was  just  crossing  the  Little  Green  Kiver  o& 
a  moonlight  night,  when  the  engineer  and  firemen 
when  suddenly  aroused  by  a  stern  command,  "Throw 
up  your  hands,  both  of  you,  quick!"  They  turned 
to  find  a  man  confronting  them  with  a  pair  of  %  big 
revolvers  and  up  went  their  hands.  Then  the  en- 
gineer was  given  orders  to  stop  the  train,  which  he 
did.  • 

The  conductor  and  the  train  crew  had  surmised  the 
reason  for  the  stopping  of  the  train,  and  they  did  not 
venture  to  show  themselves  any  nearer  to  the  en- 
gine than  the  rear  platform  of  the  last  car.  They 
would  have  .been  fools  if  they  had,  for  they  did  not 
know  how  many  were  in  the  attacking  party,  nor 
from  what  point  along  the  track  a  shot  might  come. 

At  the  point  of  the  bandits'  pistol  the  engineer 
uncoupled  the  express  car  from  the  passenger 
coaches  behind  it  and  from  the  baggage  car  in  front. 
Then  he  returned  from  the  engine  and  hauled  the 
baggage  car  out  of  the  siding,  coming  back  on  the 
main  track  and  closing  up  to  the  express  car. 

He  got  down  from  the  engine  to^jturn  the  switch 
at  each  end  of  the  siding,  and  again  to  couple  the 
express  car  to  the  engine,  on  each  occasion  escorted 
by  the  desperado,  with  the  pistol  cocked  and  r«ady. 

During-  all  this  period  the  train  crew  and  the  pas- 
sengers remained  inside  the  car.  Indeed,  few  of  the 
passengers  knew  that  any  unusual  occurrence  had 
stopped  the  train. 

Under   the    robbers'    directkm,  the   engineer  took 


86  JAMES    BOYS 

the  express  c^r  up  the  line  a  couple  of  miles  away 
from  the  rest  of  the  train,  where  he  brought  it  to  a 
standstill.  There  was  no  other  train  due  along  the 
line  for  several  hours,  so  that  there  was  no  immediate 
danger  of  a  collision,  and  now  the  engineer  and  his 
captor  approached  the  baggage  car,  where  the  latter 
called  upon  the  express  .messenger,  Ike  Perkins. 
There  being  no  response,  the  robber  produced  a  stick 
of  dynamite  from  his  boot-leg  and  made  Fischer 
blow  the  door  open,  the  explosion  tearing  out  one 
end  of  the  car. 

Approaching  this  aperture,  forcing  Fischer  to  walk 
before  him  as  a  shield,  the  desperado  discovered  Per- 
kins, with  cocked  revolver,  standing  guard  over  the 
property  committed  to  his  care,  and  called  upon  him 
to  throw  his  weapon  out  of  the  car  and  empty  his 
pockets.  The  express  messenger  obeyed  orders.  He 
could  not  shoot  at  the  robber  without  endangering 
the  life  of  Fischer.  On  the  other  hand,  Perkins 
afforded  a  fair  mark  for  Young. 

Once  inside  the  express  car  the  Big  Swede,  cool 
and  masterful,  produced  another  revolver  and  more 
dynamite '  and,  covering  both  of  the  other  men  with 
his  battery,  he  ordered  them  to  blow  open  the  safe, 
which  he  knew  to  contain  many  thousands  of  dollars 
in  actual  cash. 

And  now  a  surprising  thing  happened.  As  the 
safe  fell  apart  at  the  sound  of  the  explosion  a  mass 
of  loose  yellow  coin  rolled  out  on  the  floor — seven- 
teen thousand  dollars  in  gold  double  eagles.  The 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  87 

sight  tcri^)orarily  unbalanced  the  Big  Swede's  mind, 
and,  with  a  roar  of  delight,  he  dropped  both  of  his 
pistols  and  fell  head  forward  into  the  golden  flood, 
attempting  to  pick  up  an  armful.  In  a  fraction  of 
a  second  Perkins  seized  a  piece  of  the  wreckage  of 
the  car  and  struck  the  desperado  a  terrible  blow  over 
the  back  of  the  head. 

The  bandit  did  not  recover  consciousness  until 
noon  the  following  day,  when  he  found  himself  un- 
der guard  in  the  hospital  at  Montana.  He  proved 
to  be  Bill  Horn,  one  'of  the  James  gang,  and  is  at 
present  serving  a  term  of  fifty  years  in  State  prison, 
for  the  hold-up  men  get  long  sentences  in  Montana. 

Another  instance  of  a  prearranged  robbery  failed 
was  on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Road, 
where  several  of  the  James  gang",  headed  by  a  burly 
ruffian,  known  as  Al.  Redding,  attempted  a  little 
hold-up  without  the  aid  or  council  of  their -leaders. 
In  order  to  accomplish  this  robbery  the  bandits 
boarded  the  train  at  a  way  station  and  intended  to 
spring  the  hold-up  when  it  got  far  away  from  civili- 
zation. But  it  so  happened  that  the  conductor  be- 
came suspicious  of  one  of  the  men  who  was  sitting 
in  the  smoker  and  kept  an  eye  on  him,  and  when 
that  person  followed  him  out  to  the  platform,  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour  after  leaving  Billings,  he  was  prepared 
for  him.  The  result  was  that  each  drew  a  revolver, 
and  that  Jackman  got  his  out  first  and  shot  the  other 
man  through  trie  heart. 

Meantime,  the  confederate  had  reached  the  tender 


88  JAMES   BOYS 

of  the  engine;  but,  before  he  had  attempted  to  hold 
up  the  engineer,  the,,  conductor v  had  pulled  the  com- 
munication cord  as  a  signal  to  stop  the  train,  ^  upon 
the  shooting  of  rascal  No.  i. 

-  Rascal  No.  2  evidently  surmised  that  the  scheme 
to  rob  the  express  was  not  working  smoothly,  for 
the  engineer  saw  him  jump  from  the  engine  as  the 
train  began  to  slow  down. 


DEEDS  OF   DARING  89 


CHAPTER  XV. 
THE  DYNAMITE  TRAIN   ROBBERY. 

THE  JAMES  BOYS  RESORTED  TO  THE  USE  OF  HIGH 
EXPLOSIVES  IN  THEIR  LATTER-DAY  ^EXPRESS-CAR  ROB- 
BERRIES,  WHERE  STRONG  SAFES  WERE  OFTEN  EN- 
COUNTERED. 

The  introduction  of  dynamite  as  a  factor  in  train 
robbing  came  with  the  latter  day  operations  of  the 
James  Boys  and  their  gang,  and  it  is  said  that  al- 
though the  leaders  themselves  were  wary  of  the  high 
explosive  and  not  over- fond  of  being  in  any  way  as- 
sociated with  it  or  its  usages,  they  were  compelled 
to  adopt  it  as  a  means  of  opening  express  car  safes 
of  the  later  improved  patterns,  and,  in  order  to  safely 
and  expeditiously  accomplish  the  same,  enlisted,  a 
former  blasting  expert  in  their  gang,  and  to  him  fell 
the  exclusive  task  of  blowing  the  captured  safes, 
white  the  others  guarded  him  while  at  his  work  and 
kept  the  train  crew  and  officers  at  bay.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  dangerous  and  powerful  explosive 
came  at  a  time  when  a  perfect  beehive  of  criminal 
inductry  was  buzzing  over  the  west,  and  lent  new 
terrors  to  those  whose  duty  it  was  to  pursue  and  try 
to  capture  the  death-defying  train  robbers.  The 
most  notable  of  all  dynamite  train  robberies  occurred 


90  JAMES   BOYS 

on  the  Missouri  Pacific,  not  many  hundred  miles 
west  of  St.  Louis,  in  Augut,  1886.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  important  trains  of  the  road.  It  carried, 
besides  the  usual  through  tourist  and  passenger 
coaches,  the  baggage  and  mail,  and  a  through  ex- 
press car  of  the  Wells,  Fargo  Express  Company. 

The  express  car,  according  to  the  usual  custom  of 
the  company,  carried  two  treasure  boxes,  one  being 
a  "way  safe"  for  the  convenience  of  the  express  mes- 
senger, the  other  a  through  safe,  which  was  billed 
to  San  Francisco  direct,  locked  and  sealed. 

The  through  safe,  of  the  strongest  modern  con- 
struction, always  carried  the  bulk  of  the  money  and 
valuables  for  the  Pacific  coast.  After  reaching  San 
Antonio  from  the  East,  it  was  again  made  up  and 
relocked.  It  was  not  supposed  to  be  opened  en  route, 
or  until  it  reached  the  company's  office  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. 

The  night  run  was  made  witho'.t  unusual  incident. 
The  train  reached  Clayton  (nearly  half-way  on  its 
journey)  at  2.30  in  the  morning.  It  was  -in  this 
vicinity  that  a  previous  attempt  had  been  made  to 
rob  the  train.  The  next  stop  was  at  a  siding,  called, 
by  courtesy,  Samuels,  located  about  twenty  miles  west 
of  Clayton,  and  twelve  miles  from  the  Rio  Grande. 
To  this  point  the  run  was  made  at  low  speed. 

It  was  a  bright,  cold  morning,  with  a  starry  sky, 
such  as  can  only  be  seen  in  southwestern  Texas,  that 
made  the  surrounding  prairie  almost  as  light  as  daj. 
Just  before  reaching  Samuels  the  fireman  remarked 


DEEDS  OF  DARXNu  91 

xo  the  engineer  that  he  thought  "a  buncu  of  horses 
was  riding1  the  train  over  to  the  left." 

"Probably  some  cows  broke  loose  from  a  herd," 
Seiver  answered  him.  They  paid  no  more  attention 
to  the  matter  until  the  engineer  pulled  up  at  the  sid- 
ing. 

Everything  was  still  about  them;  the  cars  closed 
and  dark,  and  the  only  sound  was  the  faint  puffing 
of  the  engine  or  an  occasional  remark  by  the  engine- 
men. 

The  fireman  again  remarked  that  he  thought  there 
was  "a  bunch  of  something"  near  them,  on  the 
prairie.  They  had  stopped  a  little  short  of  the  sid- 
ing. The  engineer  reached  for  the  throttle  to  pull 
ahead,  when  from  somewhere  either  on  or  near  the 
train  came  a  voice: 

"All  hunk,  boys." 

From  the  prairie  came  a  sudden  pounding  of  hoofs 
and  clattering  of  spurs  and  accoutrements  as  the 
horsemen  dismounted,  and  six  or  seven  men  came 
running  toward  the  engine  and  cars.  There  was  no 
time  for  the  trainmen  to  realize  what  had  happened, 
much  less  make  any  resistance,  before  a  dropping 
volley  of  rifle  shots  was  fired  in  the  direction  of  the 
baggage  and  express  car,  the  bullets  thudding  against 
the  woodwork. 

For  a  moment  the  engineer  mistook  the  attacking 
party  for  a  band  of  larking  cowboys,  for  the  star- 
light showed  them  plainly,  dressed  in  "chaps,"  or 
riding  breeches,  sombreros,  and  the  usual  cattle- 


92  JAMES   BOYS 

riders'  outfit.    But  he  quickly  noted  that  all  the  men 
were  masked  and  carried  rifles. 

Immediately  on  firing-  the  volley  two  of  the  bandits 
sprang  upon  the  locomotive,  guarding  the  enginemen. 
Four  others  made  for  the  experss  car. 

"Jtist  watch  and  you'll  see  a  new  Wild  West 
Show,"  one  of  the  robbers  on  the  engine  remarked. 

The  remainder  of  the  robbers'  troop,  if  there  were 
more,  stayed  back  ouf  of  sight  with  the  horses, 
"planted"  for  the  usua)  get-away. 

One  of  the  men  at  the  express  car  yelled  to  the 
messenger  to  open  up  or  it  would  be  worse  for  him. 
As  there  was  no  response  from  Messenger  Smith 
or  the  United  States  mail  clerk,  who  was  in  the  mail 
car,  the  robbers  began  shouting  threats.  It  was  plain, 
from  their  language  and  appearance  that  the  rob- 
bers were  all  Americans,  and  not  a  mixed  band  of 
Mexicans  and  renegade  raiders. 

They  paid  no  attention  to  the  passenger  coaches, 
except  to  fire  once  or  twice  when  a  sopnd  came  from 
the  rear  part^of  the  train  and  to  yell  to  some  others 
in  the  background  to  be  on  the  lookout. 

Unsuccessful  in  getting  any  answer  from^the  mes- 
senger, the  robbers  called  something  to  the  mail  clerk 
(who  was  working  like  a  beaver  secreting  his  valu- 
able packages  in  the  car).  His  reply  enraged  them, 
for  one  of  them  cried  out  with  a  curse: 

"We've  monkey  1  long  enough.  Tote  that  dyna- 
mite over  here,  V  ell." 

A  man  came  from  where  the  horses  had  been  left, 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  §3 

carrying  a  small  parcel  in  his  hands  and  coolly  smok- 
ing a  cigar  or  cigarette. 

They  quickly  laid  the  cartridge  and  fuse.  One 
explosion  was  sufficient  to  shatter  the  safe  so  that 
the  robbers  could  gain  entry.  Here  they  secured 
the  real  express  treasure,  in  various  forms  and 
amounts  approximating  twenty  thousand  dollars. 

The  final  booty  satisfied  them.  One  of  the  party 
brought  up  a  led  horse.  Across  the  saddle  they  tum- 
bled two  mail  sacks  containing  the  money  and  mis- 
cellaneous matter.  The  leaderxshouted  to  the  others 
to  get  away,  and  the  men  on  the  engine  climbed 
down,  still  watching  the  enginemen,  *  with  their  rifles 
frf  their  hands  while  waiting  for  the  others  to  fetch  . 
the  horses. 

It  was  broad  daylight  by  this  time — nearly  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  robbers  had  delayed 
the  train  almost  two  hours.  The  other  members  of 
the  band  sat  their  horses,  in  plain  sight— an  ominous 
crew  of  brigands  in  the  pale  light  of  that  prairie 
morning — when  the  leader  sprang  down  from  the  car 
with  a  parting  word  to  the  express,  messenger: 
„  "Here's  your  money,"  he  said.  "We  don't  want 
that  now.  And  here's  the  other  Johnny's,  too,"  re- 
ferring to  the  mail  clerk  who  had  also  been  relieved 
of  his  personal  possessions.  He  picked  up  his  rifle 
and  turned  to  go,  with  a  laugh  and  a  final  remark: 

"Don't  look  so  downhearted,  Sonny.  You  aint 
the  last  express  man  that's  going  to  wea^"v  <n  front 
of  dynamite!'' 


94  JAMES  BOYS 

With  a  rush  and  a  pounding  of  hoofs,  as  tfiey  ».^a 
come,  the  bandits  f  departed.  In  a  moment  only  a 
cloud  of  dust  told  of  the  successful  get-away  of  ^c 
first  successful  railroad  dynamiters. 


££D£  OP  DARING 


CHAPTER  XVT. 
THE  JAMES  BOYS  IN  MEXICO. 

A  WILD  VISIT  TO  THE  LAND  OF  PRESIDENT  DIAZ  AND 
THE  GREAT  SENSATION  THE  BANDITS'  VISIT  TO  THAT 
COUNTRY  CREATED. 

After  having  "played  the  devil  generally,"  so  to 
speak,  in  the  United  States  and  being  the  object 
of  pursuit  not  only  of  the  State  and  Government 
troops,  but  of  the  police  authorities  of  nearly  every 
Western  State,  the  Pinkertons  and  railroad  police 
'in  general,  Jesse  and  Frank  James  -decided  —  wisely 
perhaps  —  that  they  would  leave  the  dominion  of 
Uncle  Sam  for  awhile  and  sojourn  neath  the  tropic 
sun  of  Mexico,  believing  rightly  that  in  that  genial 
clime,  where  police  methods  are  lax  and  American 
wrongs  adjusted  very  slowly,  they  would  be  safe 
from  pursuit  or  capture  until  things  blew  over  a 
bit.  After  a  few  days  journey  they  reached  the 
Mexican  border  and  passed  over  into  the  domain 
which  seemed  to  offer  them  security  and  rest,  it 
might  be  added  peace,  but  that  condition  of  human 
afl[airs  seems  not  to  have  been  intended  for  them, 
so  the  white  dove  perched  not  long  above  them. 
Their  first  social  event  afttr  reaching  the  land  of 


90  JAMES- BOYS 

the  ca^-us  was  a  fandango  or  dance,  which  wae 
held  near  the  little  country  town  where  they  were 
stopping-.  Of  course,  they  had  not  been  invited, 
but  that  fact  cut  little  figure  with  gentlemfen  of  as 
extreme ,  narve  of  the  Tames  Boys,  so  they  literally 
invited  themselves  and  went.  More  than  that  they 
actually  danced  with  the  Mexican  senoritas,.  aand 
thereby  occasioned  much  jealousy  on  the  part  of 
the  native  cavaliers. 

The  onlookers  were  first  amused  and  then  broke 
out  into  open  ridiculue,  and  laughed  at  Frank  and 
Jess$  and  began  to  mimic,  with  exaggerated  con- 
tortions, the  awkward  dancing  of  the  brothers. 

Now,  the  boys  could  stand  a  good  deal,  but  you 
were  not  to  laugh  at  them.  They  were  not  very  fas- 
tidious or  exacting  in  their  demands,  but  they 
would  not  stand  being  laughed  at!  So,  quick  as 
thought,  down  went  one  of  the  boldest  beneath 
the  strong  hand  of  Frank.  In  a  moment  a  strong- 
ly-built Mexican  struck  Frank  a  blow  on  the  cheek 
which  s*fent  him  spinning  headlong  into  the  ample 
laps  of  two  Mexican  maidens,  much  to  their 
amazement  and  disgust.  This  was  no  time  to 
waver,  so  Jesse  improved  the  moment  by  sending 
a  bullet  through  the  brain  of  the  Mexican  who  had 
struck  his  brother  Frank.  This  stirred  the  Spanish 
blood,  and,  what  lovers  of  the  sanguinary  would  say, 
the  fun  began,  and  the  fighting  was  beautiful.  Frank 
and  Jesse  made  for  the  door,  but  their  way  was 
blocked  'by  the  furious  and  vengeful  hi^algoes.  StK 


James  Boy's  in  Mexico 


98  JAMES  BOYS 

lettos  gleamed  and  glistened.  But  stillettos  are  poor 
where  revolvers  come.  A  desperate  fight  followed  in 
which  revolvers  were  freely  used  on  both  sides,  and 
many  of  the  revelers  were  wounded. 

Carmen,  a  town  in  the  northern  part  otf  the 
State  of  Chihuahua,  Mexico,  next  saw  the  brother 
desperadoes.  This  town  is  on  the  line  of  travel 
from  the  silver  mines  for  merchants  and  seemed 
to  offer  exceptional  advantages  for  a  hold-up.  Just 
by  way  of  diversion  the  James  boys  determined 
on  it,  "in  order  to  keep  in  practice,"  as  they  after- 
wards admited. 

Not  long  afterward  two  seemingly  affable  young 
Americans  approached  a  pack  train  of  twelve  mules 
from  the  silver  mines  and,  after  making  friends  with 
the  muleteers  and  guards,  offered  to  travel  along  with 
them  a  way,  in  order  to  help  protect  them  against 
any  stray  bandits  that  might  be  hiding  in  the  hills. 
They  played  their  game  so  well,  the  simple  Mexicans 
suspected  nothing  and  seemed  glad  of  their  company. 
They  represented  themselves  as  being  anxious  to  get 
back  to  the, States,  but  afraid  to  travel  alone,  owing 
to  bandits  and  Indians.  Frank  and  Jesse  had  three 
other  friends  who  were  really  in  the  same  box  with 
themselves.  The  chief  of  the  guard  was  inter- 
viewed with  a  request  that  he  would  allow  these 
young  men,  who  had  been  inspecting  mines,  to  go 
under  their  escort  for  safety  just  across  the  peril- 
ous border,  of  course,  agreeing  that  if  danger 


_^.  DEEDS   OF  DARING  99 

> 

came  they  would  fight  in  the  interests  of  the 
guard  and  their  treasure. 

The  chief  consented,  and  so  there  started  out 
next  day  from  Carmen  the  procession  of  mules 
and  their  treasures  and  guards,  and  these  five 
pious  -  looking  young  gentlemen  —  goody-goody 
looking  enough  to  teach  in  Sunday-school  or  ex- 
hort at  a  mission.  And  yet  Mexico  had  not  five 
such  desperadoes  from  the  North  Fork  to  the  most 
southerly  sweep  of  the  Rio  Grande! 

For  two  or  three  days  they  were  watched,  but 
soon  all  suspicion  gave  way  to  confience.  It  was 
noon,  about  the  fifth  day  out,  when  the  cavalcade 
halted  near  a  most  refreshing  fountain.  The  bur- 
dens were  taken  from  the  mules  that  they  might 
graze  at  leisure  in  the  valley.  The  muleteers,  all 
save  two — who  were  reserved  to  stand  sentinel 
over  the  bags  of  silver — were  enjoying  their  noon- 
day siesta.  The  ingenious  five  were  under  a  tree 
apart,  holding  a  quiet  converse.  The  guns  of  the 
whole  party  were  stacked  against  a  tree.  The  two 
guards  on  duty  over  the  silver  pouches  were  hold- 
ing their  guns  in  the  most  formal  and  careless 
manner  over  their  shoulders. 

The  opportune  moment  had  come! 

"Let's  go,  boys!"  was  the  brief  signal  from 
Jesse,  accompanied  by  his  low,  shrill  whistle. 

Crack!  went  a  couple  of  pistols,  and  the  two 
armed  guards  sank  quivering  to  the  earth,  shot 
dead!  The  arms  staged  against  the  tree  were  de- 


IOO  JAMES   BOYS 

stroyed  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell.  Tnc 
other  guards  were  ordered  to  hold  up  their  arms, 
and  were  at  once  disarmed.  They  then  ordered 
the  muleteers  to  put  the  bags  of  silver  on  the 
best  mules.  All  the  rest  of  the  horses  were  shot. 
Then  Frank  and  Jesse  and  their  confreres  rode  off 
with  their  stolen  treasure,  threatening  instant 
death  to  anyone  who  dared  to  follow.  The  rob- 
bers bore  their  treasure  into  Texas,  divided  the 
spoils,  and  congratulated  each  other  on  the  suc- 
cess of  the  enterprise. 

But  they  did  not  linger  long  in  Texas,  and  then 
when  things  began  to  grow  hot  again  they  decided 
upon  returning  to  Mexico,  where  living  was  easy 
and  they  had  no  trouble  in  turning  a  trick  when 
their  cash  ran  low.  They  went  to  a  town  called 
Monclova,  in  Coahuila,  and  here  to  their  surprise 
met  one  of  their  old  companions  of  wartime  days. 
He  had  returned  after  the  war  to  peaceful  pur- 
suits and,  having  become  enamored  with  the  bright 
eyes  of  a  pretty  half-breed,  had  settled  down  to  a 
quiet  rural  life  in  the  country1. 

The  sight  of  the  James  boys  and'  the  sound  of 
their  voices  woke  up  a  thousand  pleasant  mem- 
ories. They  talked  vof  the  old  times,  and  sang  the 
old  songs,  and  fought  the  old  battles  over  again, 
till  the  Mexican  bride  was  alarmed  to  think  how 
desperate  a  man  she  had  married. 

Now.  it  seems  the  one  essential  proof  of  Mexi- 
can kindness  is  to  honor  your  frienH  who  visits 


~>KEDS   OF   DARING  ^OI 

"  yon  with  «*  fandango.  Frank  and  Jesse,  nothing 
loth,  on  the  promise  that  the  grace  and  beauty  of 
Monclova  should  adorn  the  scene,  accepted  the 
honor.  The  night  came,  aand  with  the  night  the 
fandango. 

The  honored  guests  were  summering  in  beauty's 
smiles,  the  host  was  charmed  that  all  went  so  well, 
and  the  gentle  hostess  beamed  and  smiled  com- 
placently around.  AH  went  well  for  a  time,  till 
the  quick  eye  of  Jesse  thought  he  discovered  a  fur- 
tive glance  in  the  eyes  of  two  of  the  guests.  A 
young  lieutenant  'of  the  Mexican  Army  and  an 
American  from  Matehuela  were  among  the  guests. 
Jesse  became  more  and  more  convinced  that  trou- 
ble was  brewing  and  informed  his  brother  Frank 
of  his  suspicions.  His  surmises  were  correct,  for 
both  men  knew  there  was  a  reward  of  $1,000  hang- 
ing over  the  James  boys'  heads  and  had  secretly 
determined  to  earn  it.  They  managed  to  commu- 
nicate the  news  of  the  James  brothers'  presence 
to  the  Mexican  authorities,  and  at  midnight  the 
house  was  surrounded  by  a  large  detachment  of 
soldiers.  When  the  festivities  were  at  their  gay- 
est the  raid  was  made.  The  door  was  suddenly 
thrown  open  and  a  .stately  uniformed  officer  strode 
into  the  room,  followed  by  a  military  guard. 

A  scene  of  indescribable  confusion  ensued.  The 
men  were  astounded,  the  ladies  were  panic-stricken. 
The  only  calm  people  at  the  fandan;  were  the 
two  most  concerned. 


IO2  JAMES  BOYS 

The  officer  marched  up  to  Frank  and  Jesse,  ana 
in  the  name  of  the  Mexican  Government  demand- 
ed their  surrender.  The  brothers  laughed  deri- 
sively in  the  faces  of  the  officers. 

"Will  you  surrender  peacefully?"  he  asked. 

"Never!"  was  Frank's  calm  reply. 

With  that  the  officer  motioned  to  his  guards  to 
move  up. 

"Stop!"  It  was  Jesse's  voice  of  command  The 
officer  waved  to  his  guards  to  halt.  . 

"We  have  a  proposition  to  submit.  Will  you 
hear  it?" 

"If.it  means  surrender,  yes,"  replied  the  officer. 

"It  is  this,"  pursued  Jesse;  not  appearing  to  no- 
tice the  purport  of  the  officer's  reply,  "to  allow  these 
ladies  here  to  retire,  and  we  will  discuss  the  question 
with  you. 

To  this  the  officer  finally  agreed,  and  they  did  so. 

"Now  will  you  surrender?"  demanded  the  officer. 

"No,"  yelled  Jesse,  and  the  next  moment  a  pistol 
flashed  and  the  officer  lay  dead  at  his  feet. 

Three  more  shots  rang  out  in  quick  sniccesion 
and  three  more  Mexican  soldiers  fell  dead  to  the 
floor. 

The  guard  became  demoralized  and  fled.  The 
boys  now  rushed  for  the  street.  The  soldiers 
guarding  the  house  fired,  but  they  fired  aimlessly 
in  their  confusion,  and  Frank  and  Jesse  only  re- 
ceived a  few  scratches. 

In  a  little  while  the  whole  town  was  mad  with 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  103 

excitement,  and  the  wildest  stories  got  abroad.  All 
the  ladies  of  the  fandango  had  been  remorselessly 
butchered  by  hireling  murderers,  the  soldiers  were 
all  shot,  and  the  work  of  massacre  was  going  on. 
The  wild  stories  grew  and  grew.  The  streets  soon 
surged  with  a  most  excited  crowd.  The  fire  bells 
rang,  the  alarm  drums  beat  at  the  barracks,  the 
whole  of  the  soldiery  formed  in  line  and  marched 
to  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  Men,  women  and  chil- 
dren made  the  night  hideous  with  their  screams. 
The  darkness  was  dense  and  favored  the  fugitives. 
Frank  and  Jesse  reached  their  horses,  and  while 
Monclova  was  hunting  them  about  the  region  of 
the  place  of  blood  they  were  riding  fast  and  furi- 
ously away. 

After  this  desperate  affair  the  James  brothers 
lived  quietly  in  a  secluded  spot  in  the  mountains 
until  the  excitement  had  died  out,  and  then,  per- 
haps, tired  of  the  bloodshed  and  excitement  amid 
which  they  had  lived  so  long,  determined  to  seek 
rest  in  the  simple  pastoral  life,  and  took  up  a 
sheep  ranch,  where  they  accumulated  large  and 
valuable  flocks.  They  seemed  doomed  to  warfare, 
however,  and  despite  their  really  earnest  efforts 
t«  live  at  peace  with  the  world,  even  for  a  short 
time,  they  were  soon  again  forced  to  take  up  the 
trail  again.  This  came  about  by  reason  of  the  dep- 
redations of  one  Juan  Palacio,  a  Mexican  cattle 
thief,  who  had  included  sheep  in  his  stealings.  He 
robbed  the  sheepfoldls  right  and  left,  driving  away 


JAMES    BOYS 


whole  droves,  which  he  afterwards  sold.  So  long 
as  he  confined  his  stealings  to  the  Mexican  herds 
the  James  boys  paid  no  attention,  but  when  their 
sheep  began  to  go  they  arose  to  anger  and  ven- 
geance quickly.  Although  robbers  themselves 
they  quickly  resented  any  attempt  to  rob  them  and 
started  out  after  the  greaser  who  stole  their  sheep, 
assisted  by  a  murderer  named  Almonte,  another 
outlaw. 

Palacio  proposed  to  carry  away  all  the  cattle, 
and  if  the  cowboys  on  the  various  ranches  object- 
ed —  well,  cold  lead  and  a  short  shrift.^  And  the 
cold  lead  first.  The  stampede  was  complete. 
Three  of  the  "cowboys"  were  killed,  but  the  herds 
were  marched  to  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
Two  days  afterwards  Frank  and  Jesse  heard  of 
this  from  one  of  the  sorely  distressed  herdsmen. 
It  so  happened  that  Frank  and  Jesse  had  posses- 
sions in  the  valley,  and  their  flocks  had  been  car- 
ried off  by  the  murdering  Mexicans;  and,  of  all 
men,  they  were  not  the  men  to  sit  down  and  be 
robbed  in  silence.  Their  plans  were  soon  formed. 
Prompt  action  was  needed  now.  It  was  in  Oc- 
tober. Frank  and  Jesse  soon  got  on  Palacio's 
trail.  They  came  to  El  Paso.  All  was  silent, 
though  the  robbers  had  driven  through  the  village. 
Palacio  and  Almonte  came  to  camp  in  the  moun- 
tains. They  felt  themselves  quite  secure,  and  so 
fell  asleep  in  fancied  safety.  But  they  had  but 
little  sleeping  time.  They  were  suddenly  aroused 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  105 

by  the  ports  from  the  avenging  pistols  of  the 
James  boys.  Shot  after  shot  was  fired,  dealing 
death  at  every  discharge.  Roused  from  the  midst  of 
a  fitful  sleep,  the  robbers  were  dazed  and  bewildered, 
and  thought  they  were  surrounded  by  a  huge  com- 
pany of  avengers,  and  so  they  fled  as  fast  as  their 
weary  legs  could  carry  them,  giving  themselves 
no  time,  fo\  they  were  in  no  mood  to  examine  the 
state  of  things.  Ten  of  these  robbers  lay  dead, 
and  the  rest,  terror-stricken,  had  hurried  away  in 
wild  confusion  to  the  shelter  of  the  hills.  The 
leaders,  Palacio  and  Almonte,  were  not  with  the 
camp  when  Frank  and  Jesse  made  their  murder- 
ous onslaught.  When  the  tidings  reached  them 
they,  of  course,  imagined  what  the  rest  of  the  thir- 
ty thought — that  there  must  be  a  company  of  aven- 
gers, or  "Grino  Diablas,"  as  they  called  them, 
from  the  Pecos  Vale.  When  they  came  to  under- 
stand that  this  successful  raid  had  been  carried  on 
by  two  men  only  they  were  furious,  and  swore 
by  all  their  gods  to  be  avenged.  The  whole  troop 
of  the  twenty-five  were  on  the  trail  of  the  brothers 
to  recapture  the  cattle  and  strike  death  to  the 
hearts  of  the  graceless  two  who  had  wrought  them 
such  humiliation  and  decimated  their  band. 

At  last  they  came  in  sight  of  the  great  crowd- 
ing herds  of  cattle,  and  there  were  only  these  two 
men  to  deal  with.  Who  would  give  a  pin's  worth 
for  the  chances  of  the  boys? 

Arrived  on  the  crest  of  the  hill,  he  saw  fifteen 


IO6  JAMES   BOYS    - 

of  these  greasers  coming  up  he  hill.  They  were 
four  hundred  yards  away,  but  Jesse's  trusted  long- 
range  Winchester  did  splendid  service.  One  after 
another  of  the  Mexicans  fell,  till  by  the  time 
Frank  came  up  four  of  the  leaders  and  one  of  their 
mustangs  lay  dead,  and  the  rest  of  the  company 
had  beat  a  retreat.  As  Frank  reached  the  brow 
of  the  hill,  Jesse  said: 

"Well,  I've  prepared  a  feast  for  the  vultures  over 
yonder." 

"How  many  are  down?"  asked  Frank. 

"Oh,  only  four  men  and  one  horse,"  he  answered, 
with  a  grim  sort  of  smile. 

And  the  rest  of  the  valiant  Mexican  host  were 
galloping  away  for  dear  life. 


DEEDS  OF   DARING 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

MORE  CRUEL  THAN  NERO  WERE  THE 
JAMES  BOYS. 

WHEN  THOROUGHLY  AROUSED  OR  WHEN  THEIR  HOME 
WAS  ATTACKED  BY  RAIDERS,  THEIR  CRUELTY  AND  DE- 
SIRE FOR  REVENGE  KNEW  NO  BOUNDS  AND  NO  UNDER- 
TAKING WAS  TOO  BLOODTHIRSTY. 

There  were  two  sides  to  the  natures  of  the  James 
Boys,  and  despite  the  fact  that  to  their  old  mother 
they  were  all  kindness  and  tenderness,  and  to  women 
in  general  they  were  considerate  and  gallant,  Nero 
was  never  more  cruel  in  his  worst  moods  than  were 
these  two  outlaws  when  on  the  trail  for  revenge. 
This  vindictive  spirit  was  particularly  directed  against 
the  Pinkerton  Detective  Agency  and  its  men,  which 
had  been  remorsely  hunting  them  down  for  several 
years.  Several  times  tHey  had  experienced  very  nar- 
row escapes,  and  in  more  than  one  instance  the  Pin- 
kerton man  never  returned  to  report  what  happened. 

Governors  Woodson,  of  Missouri,  and  Baxter,  of 
Arkansas,  offered  large  rewards  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  all  or  any  of  the  bandits,  as  did  likewise  the 
American  Express  Company,  who  engaged  Allen 


IO8  JAMES   BOYS 

Pinkerton  and  his  efficient  force  of  detectives  to  hunt 
them  down  at  all  hazards  and  at  any  cost. 

In  a  number  of  instances  the  pursuers  became  the 
pursued,  and  it  was  the  bandits  who  chased  the  de- 
tectives instead  of  vice  versa. 

The  following  account  of  the  meeting  of  Detectives 
Allen  Wright  and  Daniels,  of  the  Pinkerton  force, 
I  will  give  some  idea  of  the  character  of  these  des- 
peradoes: "We  were  riding  along  the  road  from 
Roscoe  to  Chalk  Level,  in  St.  Clair  county,  which 
road  leads  past  the  house  of  one  Theodore  Snuffer. 
Daniels  .and  myself  were  riding  side  by  side,  and  our 
companion,  Wright,  was  a  short  distance  ahead  of  us. 
Some  noise  behind  us  attracted  our  attention,  and, 
looking  back,  we  saw  two  men  on  horseback  coming 
toward  us;  one  was  armed  with  a  double-barrel  shot- 
gun, the  other  with  revolvers;  don't  know  if  the  lat- 
ter had  a  shotgun  or  not;  the  one  that  had  the  shot- 
gun carried  it  cocked,  both  barrels,  and  ordered  us  to 
halt;  Wright  drew  his  pistol,  but  then  put  spurs  to 
his  horse  and  rode  off;  they  ordered  him  to  halt,  and 
shot  at  him,  and  shot  off  his  hat,  but  he  kept  on 
riding.  Daniels  and  myself  stopped,  standing  across 
the  road  on  our  horses ;  they  rode  up  to  us  and  or- 
dered us  to  take  off  our  pistols  and  drop*  them  on 
the  road,  one  of  them  covering  me  all  the  time  with 
his  gun.  We  dropped  our  pistols  on  the  ground, 
and  one  of  the  men  told  the  other  to  follow  Wright 
and  bring  him  back,  but  he  refused  to  go,  saying  he 
would  stay  W&h  him;  one  of  the  men  then  picked  up 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  IOQ 

the  revolvers  we  had  dropped,  and,  looking  at  them, 
/emarked  they  were  damned  fine  pistols,  and  that  we 
must  make  them  a  present  of  them;    one    of    them 
asked  me  where  we  came  from,  and  I  said,  'Osceola ;' 
he  then  wanted  to  know  what  we  were  doing  in  this 
part  of  the  country;   I   replied,   'Rambling  around/ 
One  of  them  said :    'You  ^vere  up  here  one  day  be- 
fore.'    I  replied  that  we  were  not.     He  then  said  we 
had  been  at  the  Springs.     I  replied  that  we  had  been 
at  the  Springs,  but  had  not  been  inquiring  for  them; 
that  we  did  not  know  them;  they  said  detectives  had 
been   up   there  hunting   for  them   all  the  time,   and 
they  were  going  to  stop  it.    Daniels  then  said :    'I  am 
no  detective;  I  can  show  you  who  I  am  and  where 
I  belong/  and  one  of  them  said  he  knew  him,  and 
then  turned  to  me  and  said:     'What  in  hell  are  you 
riding  around  here  with  all  them  pistols  on  for?'  and 
I  said:    'Good  God!  is  not  every  man  wearing  them 
that  is  traveling,  and  have  I  not  as  much  right  to 
wear  them  as  anyone  else?'     Then  the  one  that  had 
the  shotgun  said:    'Hold  on,  young  man,  we  don't 
want  any  of  that/  and  then  lowered  the  gun,  cocked, 
m   a  threatening  manner.     Then   Daniels  had   some 
talk  with  them,  and  one  of  them  got  off  his  horse  and 
picked  up  the  pistols;  two  of  them  were  mine  and 
one  was  Daniels';    the    one    mounted  had  the  gun 
drawn  on  me,  and  I  concluded  that  they  intended  to 
kill  us.     I  reached  my  hand  behind  me  and  drew  a 
No.  2  Smith  &  Wesson  pistol  and  cocked  and  fired 
at  the  one  on  horseback;  my  horse  became  frightened 


HO  JAMES  BOYS 

at  the  report  of  the  pistol  and  turned  to  run;  then  I 
heard  two  shots  and  my  left  arm  fell;  I  had  no  con- 
trol over  my  horse,  and  he  jumped  into  the  bushes 
before  I  could  get  hold  of  the  rein  with  my  right 
hand  to  bring  him  into  the  road;  one  of  the  men 
rode  by  and  fired  two  shots  at  me,  one  of  which  took 
effect  in  my  left  side,  and  I  lost  all  control  of  my 
horse  again,  and  he  turned  into  the  brush,  when  a 
small  tree  struck  me  and  knocked  me  out  of  the 
saddle.  I  then  got  up  and  staggered  across  the  road 
and  lay  down  until  I  was  found.  No  one  else  was 
present." 

Captain  Allen  was  struck  very  hard  in  the  left  side, 
two  inches  above  the  hip ;  he  was  carried  back  to  Ros- 
coe,  where  he  lingered  for  a  period  of  six  weeks,  and 
then  died,  surrounded  by  his  family,  that  had  come 
to  him  from  Chicago,  directly  after  the  shooting.  His 
remains  were  enclosed  in  a  metallic  case  and  returned 
to  Chicago,  where  they  were  buried  with  Masonic 
honors.  Ed  Daniels  was  laid  away  in  the  little 
churchyard  at  Osceola.  . 

The  torture  and  murder  of  Detective  Wicher,  a:^"> 
of  the  Pinkerton  force,  by  the  Tames  boys,  was  par- 
ticularly brutal  and  aroused  tru  entire  country  when 
its  details  became  known. 

Pinkerton  received  inforniatioL  that  the  James  boys 
and  others  of  the  band  of  robbers  were  in  hiding 
near  Kearney,  in  Clay  county,  Missouri,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  send  some  brave,  trusty  man  out  there  to 
definitely  locate  them,  get  into  their  confidence  and 


DEEDS   OP    DARING  III 

prepare  the  way  for  ?~i  early  capture  of  the  whole 
gang.  Pinkerton  had  come  to  the  conclusion  thai 
open  pursuit  of  the  bandits  would  never  result  in 
their  capture,  for  they  had  too  many  friends  in  the 
community  where  they  operated  §o  make  it  possible 
to  apprehend  them.  They  always  had  timely  warn- 
ing of  the  approach  of  an  enemy,  and  ready  shelter 
in  the  houses  of  their  friends  on  a  moment's  notice. 
The  chief  of  detectives,  therefore,  resolved  to  cap- 
ture the  gang  through  strictly  detective  methods,  and 
called  u[on  his  force  for  a  man  to  do  the  delicate 
and  dangerous  work. 

John  W.  Wicher,  of  Chicago,  one  of  Pinkerton's 
most  trusted  men,  volunteered  for  this  dangerous 
duty.  Wicher  was  scarcely  thirty  years  of  age,  but 
had  seen  much  service  as  a  detective,  and  was  con- 
sidered by  Pinkerton  to  be  one  of  his  bravest,  clear- 
est-headed and  most  trusty  men. 

Young  Wicher  was  fully  informed  of  the  dangers 
of  stich  a  mission,  but  his  self-reliance  and  pride 
made  him  anxious  to  make  the  attempt  which  had 
already  cost  the  lives  of  so  many  courageous  officials. 
The  chief  gave  his  consent,  and  Wicher  set  out  at 
once  for  the  Samuels  residence.  In  the  early  part  of 
March  the  detective  arrived  in  Liberty,  where  he 
soon  laid  his  schemes  before  the  sheriff  of  Clay 
county,  and  asked  for  assistance  when  the  time  and 
circumstances  were  ripe  for  a  strike.  The  Sheriff 
promised  all  needful  aid,  and  gave  Wicher  all  the 
fnformation  in  his  possession  concerning  the  habits 


H*  JAMES    ROYS 

and  rendezvous  of  the  James  and  Younger  beys. 

Determined  to  either  capture  the  James  boys  or 
forfeit  his  life  in  the  attempt,  Detective  Wicher  dis- 
guised himself  as  a  tramp  and  started  for  the  home 
of  the  bandits.  He  reached  there  in  due  time,  and 
before  he  could  even  realize  it  had  fallen  into  their 
clutches.  Realizing  that  it  was  useless  for  him  to 
try  resistance  at  that  time,  he  decided  to  resort  to  a 
ruse  and  solemnly  averred  that  he  was  only  an 
humble  wayfarer.  They  accused  him  of  being  a 
Pinkerton  man,  which  he  indignantly  denied. 

"Well,  gentlemen,  I  am  nothing  more  than  a  poor 
man,  without  as  much  as  a  dollar  in  my  pocket,  and 
what  I  have  told  you  as  to*  my  purpose  is  true.  If 
you  will  be  good  enough  to  let  me  proceed,  or  fur- 
nish me  with  means  by  which  I  can  secure  work,  I 
shall  be  thankful." 

At  this  the  bandits  laughea  scornfully,  while  Jesse 
James  proceeded  with  the  examination: 

"I  think  you  are  from  Chicago,  and  when  you  ar 
rived  at  Liberty  a  few  days  ago  you  wore  much  bet- 
ter clothes  than  you  now  have  on ;  besides,  it  seer* ' 
that  you  and  Moss  (the  sheriff)  have  some  busines^ 
together.  Say,  now,  young  fellow,  haven't  you  set 
out  to  locate  the  James  boys,  whom  you  have  found 
rather  unexpectedly?" 

Wicher  saw  that  he  was  in  the  hands  of  his  ene- 
mies, and  his  heart  beat  in  excited  pulsation  as  he 
thought  of  the  young  wife  he  had  so  recently  wed- 
ded, and  from  whom  an  eternal  separation  appeared 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  ."*Ij 

i.  Dropping  his  head  as  if  resigning  himself 
to  cruel  fate,  Wicher  hoped  to  deceive  his  captors, 
and  in  an  unguarded  moment  be  able  to  draw  his 
pistol  and  fight  for  his  life.  Like  a  flash  from  a  hazy 
cloud  the  detective  thrust  his  hand  into  his  bosom 
and  succeeded  in  grasping  his  pistol,  but  ere  he 
could  use  it  the  bandits  sprang  upon  him,  and  in  the 
grip  of  three  strong  men  he  was  helpless.  He  was 
then  disarmed  and  firmly  bound  by  small  cords  which 
Frank  James  produced.  Clell  Miller  went  into  the 
woods  and  soon  returned,  leading  three  horses,  on 
the  largest  of  which  Wicher  was  placed  and  his  feet 
tied  under  the  horse's  belly.  A  gag  was  placed 
tightly  in  his  mouth,  and  Jesse  James,  mounting  be- 
hind, the  desperadoes  rode  into  the  deepening  woods 
with  their  victim.  They  crossed  the  Missouri  River 
at  Independence  Landing,  and  fust  before  day  they 
halted  in  the  black  shadows  of  a  copse  in  Jackson 
county.  Here  they  prepared  for  the  torture  and  exe- 
cution of  their  prisoner.  Wicher  was  taken  from  his 
horse  and  bound  fast  to  a  tree ;  the  gag  was  removed 
from  his  mouth,  and  then  the  bandits  tried  to  extort 
from  him  information  concerning  the  plans  of  Pin- 
kerton  and  the  number  and  names  of  the  detectives 
he  had  engaged  in  the  attempt  to  capture  the  outlaws. 
Though  they  pricked  him  with  their  bowie  knives 
and  bent  his  head  forward  with  their  combined 
strength  until  the  spinal  column  was  almost  broken, 
and  practiced  other  atrocious  torments,  yet  Wicher 
never  spoke.  He  knew  that  death  was  kis  portion, 


JAMES   BOY& 

and  he  deiie^  the  desperadoes  and  dared  them  to  do 
their  worst. 

Finding  all  their  endeavors  fruitless,  Jesse  and 
Frank  James  murdered  theif  victim,  one  of  them 
shooting  him  through  the  heart  and  the  other 
through  the  brain.  The  body  was  then  carried  to 
the  nearest  highway,  where  it  was  lelt  to  be  found 
next  day  by  a  farmer  who  was  driving  into  Inde- 
pendence. 


E>B£DS   OP  DARING 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE   IRON   MOUNTAIN   TRAIN   ROBBERY. 

Perhaps  the  most  celebrated  train  robbery  com- 
mitted by  the  James  brothers  and  their  close  ac- 
complices, the  Youngers,  was  that  of  the  Iron 
Mountain  express  in  Missouri,  near  a  place  called 
Wayne,  which  for  daring  and  actual  audacity  cer- 
tainly eclipses  all  their  other  achievements  in  this 
line.  It  was  the  big  sensation  of  the  entire  coun- 
try at  the  time,  and  is  still  recalled  by  Westerners 
as  the  most  desperate  affair  of  its  kind  that  ever 
occurred  in  that  country.  The  spot  where  the  rob- 
bery occurred  was  ideal,  inasmuch  as  it  was  inhab- 
ited by  only  a  few  people.  The  surrounding  coun- 
try was  a  perfect  jungle,  which  made  the  escape 
of  the  bandits  comparatively  easy  after  the  perpe- 
tration of  their  crime. 

The  Iron  Mountain  express  was  due  at  Wayne 
at  5.40  P.  M.,  and  a  little  before  that  hour  a  band 
of  six  men  rode  up  on  horseback,  halting  a  short 
distance  from  the  railroad  station.  They  were  all 
stalwart  fellows,  wearing  gray  felt  hats  and  oM 
blue  army  overeoaJg,  and  wfcbairt  close  Inspec- 
tion might  have  been  tel:er  lot  a  detachment  of 


ir6  The  Iron  Mountain   Express   Hold-Up. 


DEEDS   OF   DARING 


United  States  troopers,  especially  as  thc>  carried 
big  revolvers  in  their  belts  and  Winchester  rifles 
in  their  hands.  Dismounting,  they  fastened  their 
horses  to  a  clump  of  trees  near  by,  and  walked 
quietly  up  to  the  little  railroad  station.  The  few 
loiterers  about  the  station  were  greatly  surprised 
when  the  sextette  drew  their  pistols  and  ordered 
them  inside  the  station.  But  they  stood  not  on  the 
order  of  their  going,  and  simply  went  without  par- 
ley. They  were  all  promptly  locked  inside,  under 
threat  of  instant  death  if  they  attempted  to  escape. 

Now  in  absolute  control  of  the  station,  the  bri- 
gands prepared  to  receive  the  Iron  Mountain  ex- 
press. The  switch  leading  into  the  side  track  was 
thrown  open  in  order  to  prevent  the  engineer  from 
running  past  the  station  in  case  his  suspicions 
should  be  aroused,  and  a  red  signal  flag  was  plant- 
ed in  the  center  of  the  track  immediately  in  front 
of  the  station  platform.  Then  the  robbers  lit  che- 
roots and  moved  back  into  the  shadow  of  the  sta- 
tion house  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  train. 

The  robbers  had  a  definite  purpose  in  holding 
up  the  Iron  Mountain  train.  In  the  railroad  rob- 
bery of  the  previous  July  they  had  missed  $75,000 
in  gold  by  stopping  the  wrong  train  —  the  one 
which  preceded  the  treasure.  Now  they  had 
learned  that  Treasurer  Stanchfield,  of  the  CUar- 
water  Lumber  Company,  was  to  be  on  this  train 
ftrith  $5,000,  no  mean  sum  in  those  days.  Moreover, 


Il8  JAMES   BOYS 

they  counted  on  cleaning  out  the  Adams  Express  car. 
They  had  well  timed  the  arrival  of  the  train  and 
had  not  long  to  wait,  for  in  a  very  few  minutes 
the  faint  trail  of  smoke  from  the  locomotive  was 
seen  in  the  distant  sky,  and  soon  the  puffing  of 
the  engine  was  heard  as  it  came  speeding  across 
the  prairie.  Wayne  was  not  a  regular  stop,  trains 
stopping  there  on  being  signalled.  This  the  rob- 
bers knew,  and  set  the  proper  flag  by  the  track  for 
the  train  to  halt.  The  engineer  saw  it  and,  sus- 
pecting nothing,  brought  his  train  to  a  stop  beside 
the  station  platform. 

For  a  moment  there  was  no  one  to  be  seen. 
Then  the  leader  of  the  gang  made  a  dash  for  the 
engine  cab  and  climbed  into  it  with  a  drawn  re- 
volver. 

"You  fellows  need  some  exercise,"  he  remarked 
to  the  helpless  engineer  and  firemen.  "Climb  down 
and  take  to  the  woods.  ...  No  foolishness! 
You  walk  straight  out,  and  don't  come  back  until 
we  whistle  for  you,  unless  you're  tired  of  living." 

The  conductor  sprang  down  to  see  what  the 
trouble  was.  He  found  himself  looking  into  the 
muzzles  of  two  revolvers,  and  was  greeted  with  a 
command  to  throw  up  his  hands  or  have  his  head 
blown  off. 

"Come  along  to  the  coop,"  the  robber  added 
cheerfully,  through  the  black  calico  mask  which  he 
wore  over  his  face. 


DEEDS   OF   DARING 


119 


A  glance  forward  showed  him  that  three  other 
masked  men  were  approaching  with  revolvers  in 
their  hands,  and  that  he  had  no  choice  but  to  obey. 

The  work  of  going  through  the  cars  was  done 
expeditiously  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  running 
fire  of  remarks.  Then,  after  finishing  with  the  pas- 
sengers and  warning  them  as  they  valued  their 
lives  to  keep  quiet,  the  bandits  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  express  and  mail  car.  They  broke 
open  the  safe  of  the  Adams  Express  Company,  but 
in  it  they  found  only  $1,080.  One  of  them  re- 
ported, from  the  door,  the  smallness  of  the  sum 
to  the  leader,  who  was  keeping  a  watchful  eye 
upon  the  cars  and  the  prisoners. 

"Rip  up  Uncle  Sam  and  see  what  he's  got  in- 
side," he  answered. 

The  United  States  mail  bags  were  immediately 
cut  open  and  rifled.  In  one  letter  the  robbers 
found  $2,000  in  bills,  and  varying  sums  in  a  num- 
ber of  others.  Coolly  counting  up  the  entire  pro- 
ceeds, the  looters  found  that  their  booty  was 
aearly  $12,000,  including  $1,260  from  the  mail  bags. 

The  robbers,  "who  were  all  six-footers  and  heavily 
•rmed,  escaped  on  fine,  blooded  horses,  going  in  a 
southerly  direction." 

This  remarkable  document  wound  up  with  the 
Statement:  "This  thing  made  a  h 1  of  an  excite- 
ment in  this  part  of  the  country. 

"Here's  the  lojt  item/'  the  leader  said,  when  he 
handed  the  paper  to  one  of  the  trainmen.  "We 


I2O  JAMES   BOYS 

like  to  do  things  in  style  and  save  people  all  the 
trouble  we  can.  All  right,  Al!"  he  shouted  to  the 
conductor,  "you  can  travel  on  now." 

Just  as  the  engineer  was  pulling  out,  the  robber 
who  had  thrown  the  switch  discovered  that  he  had 
left  his  overcoat  on  the  track  beside  the  switch- 
board. The  engineer  was  again  stopped  while  the 
fellow  went  forward  aand  secured  his  coat,  throw- 
ing back  the  switch  at  the  same  time. 

As  the  passenger  cars  passed  the  robbers  on  the 
platform  they  waved  their  hands  with  sarcastic 
farewells. 

"We'll  see  you  some  oth^r  day  when  we  get 
short  of  funds,"  the  leader  cried. 

A  minute  later  they  threw  open  the  door  of  the 
station  aand  released  the  prisoners.  Then,  mount- 
ing their  "fine,  blooded  horses,"  the  six  ruffians 
rode  leisurely  away. 

The  robbery  created  a  tremendous  sensation, 
particularly  as  it  was  ascertained  that  the  outrage 
was  committed  by  the  same  men  who  had  robbed 
the  Hot  Springs  stage  coach  only  two  weeks  be- 
fore. Aside  from  the  amount  of  the  booty,  which 
was  a  secondary  consideration,  the  authorities,  in- 
cluding the  railroad,  express  and  postoffice  offi- 
cials, realized  that  the  audacity  of  the  crime  called 
for  immediate  acttion. 

There  was  not  the  slightest  doubt  of  the  iden- 
tity of  the  brigands.  As  an  editorial  witer  re- 
marked at  the  time:  "No  continent  comJ  pro- 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  121 

duce  two  bends  of  such  blithesome  ruffians!"  Be- 
sides, forty  pairs  of  eyese  had  studied  them,  and 
there  was  plenty  of  material  for  identification, 

Rewards  amounting  to  a  large  sum  were  at  once 
offered  for  the  apprehension  of  the  outlaws.  After 
the  Governor  of  Missouri  had  sent  his  indignant 
message  to  the  Legislature,  that  body  declined  to 
allow  him  the  use  of  the  militia  or  to  vote  suffi- 
cient money  for  the  organization  of  a  secret  po- 
lice, but  it  did  vote  $10,000  to  use  as  rewards. 

The  Governor  immediately  offered  $2,000  apiece 
for  the  capture  of  the  Iron  Mountain  desperadoes 
and  subsequently  the  Governor  of  Arkansas  of- 
fered $2,500  more.  The  Postoffice  Department 
also  offered  a  reward  of  $5,000,  making  an  aggre- 
gate of  $17,500  from  these  sources  alone  for  the 
apprehension  of  the  robbers,  "living  or  dead." 

The  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  and  the  Adams 
Express  Company,  besides  offering  any  reasona- 
ble sum  in  rewards,  also  instituted  vigorous  meas- 
ures to  capture  the  gang.  A  number  of  St.  Louis 
detectives  were  put  on  the  case,  and  the  Pink- 
erton  Detective  Agency  sent  out  two  of  their  best 
detectives. 

Despite  all  these  efforts  to  capture  them,  how- 
ever, the  James  boys  seemed  to  bear  charmed  lives, 
for  they  had  seemingly  vanished  as  though  the 
earth  had  opened  and  swallowed  them  up. 


122  JAMES  BOYS 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  GREAT  MAMMOTH  CAVE  STAGE 
ROBBERY. 

DARING  HOLD-UP  OF  THE  COACH  FILLED  WITH  SIGHT- 
SEERS AND  THE  EXCITING  TIME  THAT  FOLLOWED  THE 
ROBBERY. 

Generally,  after  a  big  train  or  bank  robbery,  the 
James  Boys  retired  to  their  home  with  their  booty 
and  lived  the  easy  and  simple  life  until  it  was  gone. 
This  period  of  inactivities,  of  course,  varied  in  dura- 
tion according  to  the  magnitude  of  the  haul  and  the 
laxness  or  activity  of  the  law  officers,  who  were  in 
pursuit.  If  they  lagged,  and  the  bankroll  was  a  big 
one,  the  desperadoes  stayed  home  and  took  it  easy 
for  months.  If  not,  they  were  on  the  warpath  again 
in  a  week  or  two.  As  long  as  they  kept  away  from 
the  gambling  table  they  had  money,  but  very  soon 
after  they  began  bucking  the  tiger,  they  were  invari- 
ably broke,  for  bold  and  successful  robbers  as  they 
were,  they  lacked  tact  with  the  pasteboards,  and  were 
known  to  be  very  poor  card  sharps.  It  was  while 
taking  one  of  these  periodical  recuperative  spells 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  123 

that  they  planned  the  robbery  ©f  the  Mammoth  Cave 
coach,  the  details  of  which  are  given  below. 

It  occurred  in  September,  1880,  at  which  season 
the  great  cave  ^is  visited  by  thousands  of  tourists 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  and  world.  One  of 
the  favorite  routes  to  this  natural  wonder  is  by  way 
of  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Railroad  to  Cave 
City,  and  thence  by  stage  to  the  caves,  about  ten 
miles  distant. 

On  the  day  of  the  robbery  of  the  stage  the  pas- 
sengers were  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Gregg,  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Diocese  of  Texas;  Mr.  Breck- 
enridge,  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  San 
Antonio,  and  other  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  good 
standing — eleven  in  all.  Merry,  happy  souls,  who 
knew  the  brighter  side  of  life,  and  knew  no  lack  of 
earthly  gear.  The  stage  called  at  its  usual  halting 
place  about  six  o'clock  in  order  that  man  and  beast 
might  be  refreshed. 

Just  after  resuming  their  journey  the  driver  des- 
cried ahead  of  him  six  mounted  men,  whom  he  took 
for  rancheros;  but  as  they  drew  nearer  he  became  a 
little  puzzled.  They  were  mounted  not  on  the  rough 
mustang  of  the  prairies,  but  on  splendid  American 
horses  of  the  best  breed  The  driver  became  a  little 
nervous. 

It  was  about  6  P.  M.  that  the  stage  was  nearing 
Cave  City  on  its  return  from  the  cave,  that  it  was 
suddenly  confronted  by  a  number  of  masked  horse- 
men, in  a  dark  and  deeply  wooded  ravine.  In 


124  JAMES  BOYS 

answer  to  c.  pistol  shot,  which  whizzed  cloie  to  his 
head,  the  driver  reined  up  his  horses,  and  the  coach 
was  at  once  surrounded  by  heavily  armed  horsemen. 
The  passengers,  in  terror,  looked  into  the  muzzles 
of  what  seemed  to  be  a  whole  battery  of  revolver 
barrels  and  were  ordered  to  alight.  It  was  also 
explained  by  the  highwaymen  that  the  order  applied 
to  women  as  -well  as  men. 

"Come,  tumble  out!"  was  the  brief  command. 
"Tumble  out  quick,  if  you  don't  want  to  die  where 
you  sit." 

A  scene  of  confusion  ensued.  The  women  of  the 
party  lost  all  presence  of  mind,  and  without  the 
slightest  regard  for  the  proprieties,  clambered  over 
and  clung  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  party  for  pro- 
tection. Surely,  never  in  the  world,  was  a  bishop 
hugged  by  a  very  ponderous  maiden  lady,  of  a 
very  certain  age,  as  she  begged  him  for  the  love  of 
God  to  protect  her  from  "those  wicked,  horrid  men." 

But  the  bishop  was  more  in  danger  than  his  stout- 
clinging  friend.  Indeed,  there  was  little  danger  to 
the  women  of  the  company,  if  they  would  but  keep 
quiet.  Jesse  James  did  most  of  the  talking  on  the 
occasion,  though  Younger  occasionally  put  in  a  word. 
The  ladies  were  assured  they  had  nothing  to  fear,  if 
only  the  men  behaved  themselves.  "Behaving  them- 
selves" on  this  occasion  meant  simply  getting  out  of 
the  stage  and  delivering  all  their  possessions  quietly. 

"Come,  tumble  out  or  die'"  was  lesse's  brief  com- 
mand. 


DEEDS   OF   DARIN 


125 


And  now  came  the  plunder  of  personal  possession. 

"Gentlemen  and  ladies,"  said  Jesse  in  a  mock  polite- 
ness, "it  will  be  our  painful  duty  now  to  trouble  you 
for  the  money  and  jewelry  you  may  chance  to  have 
about  you." 

"Do  you  mean  to  rob  us?"  asked  the  bishop  in  a 
tone  of  offended  dignity,  as  he  gazed  on  the  scene. 

"Oh !  fie,  fie,"  said  the  shocked  young  robber ;  "you 
snouldn't  use  such  ugly  language!  Rob  you!  Oh! 
never,  never!  We  would  scorn  the  action!  Do  we 
look  like  robbers?  No,  gentlemen,  we  only  wish  to 
relieve  you  of  a  burden— that's  all;  so  out  with  your 
money  and  quick,  we  have  no  time  to  spare." 

"Don't  you  call  that  robbery?"  asked  the  bishop. 

"Come,  now,  old  coon !  Dry  up,  or  you'll  not  have 
an  opportunity  to  ask  any  more  nonsenical  questions. 
Hand  out  your  money. 

The  bishop  reluctantly  complied,  handing  out  his 
pocketbook. 

The  eight  gentlemen  were  all  searched,  but  very 
little  was  obtained  till  they  came  to  Mr.  Breckenridge, 
of  the  Louisville  bank.  He  proved  to  be  a  big  bo- 
nanza. They  obtained  from  him  over  $1,000.  The 
ladies  were  ordered  to  yield  up  their  treasures.  One 
was  evidently  poor.  They  examined  her  pocketbook, 
and  Jesse  said: 

"Madam,  is  that  ah  you  **ave?" 

"Every  cent  in  the  world,"  she  replied. 

"And  how   far  are  you  going?" 
To  Louisville,  sir." 


126  JAMES   BOYS 

"Well,  then,  take  yoar  money;  we  won't  trouble 
you." 

To  her  intense  surprise,  the  affrighted  old  lady 
found,  when  she  got  home,  that  Jesse  had  slipped  ,i 
twenty-dollar  bill  into  her  poorly  furnished  pockcl- 
book,  and  she  was  wont  to  say  in  after  years: 

"Well,  well,  the  James  boys  were  bad  enough, 
Heaven  knows,  but  they  might  have  been  a  good  deal 
worse." 

Being  in  need  of  fresh  horses,  the  James  boys  took 
the  fine  pair  of  leaders  that  belonged  to  the  coach 
and  rode  away,  leaving  the  coach  and  its  passengers 
to  proceed  to  Cave  City  with  a  single  pair  of  horses, 
sadfy  and  slowly,  as  may  be  imagined. 


DEEDS  OF  DARING 


XX. 

QUICKEST  EXPRESS  CAR  ROBBERY  ON 
RECORD. 

ONE  OF  THE  NEATEST  ANB  MOST  QUIET  TRAIN  HOLD- 
UPS IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  JAMES  BOYS'  DARING 
ESCAPADES. 

Alacrity  was  always  one  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  James  boys'  robberies,  but  peace  and  quiet  were 
not.  They  were  usually  accompanied  by  wild  yells, 
pistol  shots,  etc.,  doubtless  to  terrify  the  victims  into 
easy  surrender.  The  robbery  of  an  express  car  at- 
tached to  a  Missouri  and  Northern  train,  near  Joplin, 
created  one  of  the  biggest  sensations  of  the  day  by 
reason  of  the  speed  with  which  it  was  accomplished 
and  the  lack  of  bravado  which  characterized  its  suc- 
cess. 

Four  men  assembled  near  the  railroad  station  one 
dark  night  and  boarded  the  west  bound  train  when  it 
stopped  for  a  minute  to  take  several  passengers 
aboard. 

Four  men  gathered  about  the  depot  a  few  min- 
utes before  the  train  was  due  and,  after  engaging  the 


128  JAMES  BOYS 

old  crossing  watchman  in  conversation,  suddenly 
grabbed  him,  made  him  ±  prisoner  in  his  watch  box 
and  took  away  his  signal  lanterns.  Warning  him  that 
they  would  shoot  him  if  he  made  the  least  noise  or 
outcry,  they  departed  down  the  track,  after  locking 
him  in.  When  the  train  had  gotten  a  little  way  past 
the  station  the  engineer  noted  signals  ahead  and 
brought  his  train  to  a  stop.  Instantly  the  engineer 
and  fireman  were  confronted  by  an  armed  man  in  the 
engine  cab,  who  drew  a  pair  of  pistols  and  warned 
them  not  to  move.  More  armed  men  had  held  up  the 
conductor  and  train  crew,  while  several  entered  the 
express  car  and  bade  the  express  messenger  open  the 
safe  on  pain  of  instant  death  if  he  refused.  Seeing  no 
way  out  of  it,  he  obeyed. 

The  United  States  safe  contents  were  speedily  trans- 
ferred to  a  grain  sack  without  examination.  The  mes- 
senger once  more  found  himself  in  peril,  because  he 
had  no  key  to  the  Adams  through  safe,  but,  as  his  ex- 
planation was  reasonable,  the  robbers  were  convinced. 
One  of  the  robbers  then  ran  out,  got  the  fireman's 
hammer  and  began  banging  at  the  safe.  He  was  un- 
able to  produce  much  impression,  whereupon  a  hercu- 
lean bandit  caught  the  hammer,  and  .with  a  few  tre- 
mendous blows  broke  a  hole  in  the  side,  into  which 
he  vainly  attempted  to  force  his  hand.  The  first 
striker,  however,  remarked  that  he  "wore  a  No  7  kid/' 
and  could  do  better. 

In  just  two  minutes  the  safe  was  plundered  and 
the  booty  bagged.  No  attempt  was  made  to  rob  the 


DEEi,.      >i\  DARINt  129 

passengers.  The  train  boy's  box  was  broken  open  and 
peanuts  and  apples  were  gobbled  up  voraciously.  Only 
one  or  two  shots  were  fired  from  the  train,  the  rob- 
bers keeping  up  a  fusilade  on  both  sides  and  moving 
from  poin  to  point,  so  that  in  the  darkness  it  seemed 
as  though  the  brush  was  full  of  men. 

The  train  boy  had  a  revolver,  and  early  in  the  fracas 
he  stepped  out  on  the  platform  and  blazed  away  at 
one  of  the  robbers,  who  gave  a  loud,  croaking  laugh 

and  called  out :  "Hear  that  little bark !"    As  soon 

as  the  safes  had  been  emptied  the  robbers  told  the 
trainmen  to  remove  the  obstructions  before  and  be- 
hind and  pull  out,  which  was  done  with  alacrity.  The 
train  was  stopped  an  hour  and  ten  minutes,  and  the 
booty  secured  amounted  to  fifteen  thousand  dollars. 


130  JAMES  BOYS 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
JESSE  JAMES  SHOT  BY  GEORGE  SHEPHERD. 

AFTER  THE  GLENDALE  ROBBERY  SHEPHERD  UNDERTOOK 
TO  CAPTURE  THE  DARING  ROBBER  AND  CAME  NEAR 
KILLING  HIM  IN  THE  ATTEMPT. 

Perhaps  the  narrowest  escape  that  Jesse  James  ever 
had  from  death  was  at  the  hands  of  George  Shep- 
herd, a  daring  law  officer,  who  started  out  to  bring 
him  in  dead  or  alive  and  came  very  near  doing  the 
former.  For  once  in  his  life  Jesse  had  met  his  equal 
with  a  revolver,  and  it  did  not  take  him  long  to  find 
it  out.  After  being  severely  wounded  he  managed  to 
escape  by  the  mere  "skin  of  his  teeth."  It  all  came 
about  in  this  way: 

Living  in  Kansas  City  at  the  time  of  the  robbery 
was  George  Shepherd,  one  of  the  most  courageous 
men  that  ever  faced  danger.  He  was  one  of  Quan- 
trell's  lieutenants,  and  fought  in  all  the  terrible  and 
unmerciful  encounters  of  that  chief  of  the  black  ban- 
ner. He  was  at  Lawrence,  and  rode  beside  the  James 
boys  in  that  dreadful  cyclone  of  remorseless  murder. 
He  had  run  the  gauntte*  of  a  hundred  rifles  and 


132  JAMES   BOYS 

fought  against  odds  which  it  appeared  impossible  to 
escape.  After  the  close  of  the  war  Jesse  James  ac- 
cepted Colonel  Shepherd  as  a  leader  and  followed 
him  into  Texas,  and  would  still  be  following  his  coun- 
sels had  not  circumstances  separated  them. 

Major  Leggitt  evolved  a  scheme  out  of  his  hours 
of  study  toward  the  capture  of  Jesse  James.  He  sent 
for  Shepherd,  who  was  working  for  Jesse  Noland,  a 
leading  dry  goods  merchant  of  Kansas  City,  and  to 
the  ex-guerilla  he  proposed  his  scheme.  It  was  this : 
Shepherd,  being  well  known  to  have  formerly  been  a 
comrade  of  Jesse  James,  it  was  to  be  reported  that  un- 
doubted information  had  reached  the  authorities  es- 
tablishing Shepherd's  connection  with  the  Glandale 
robbery.  A  report  of  this  was  to  be  printed  upon  a 
slip  of  paper  having  printed  matter  upon  the  reverse 
side,  so  as  to  appear  like  a  newspaper  clipping.  Shep- 
herd was  to  take  this  printed  slip,  find  Jesse  James  and 
propose  to  join  him,  saying  that  he  was  being  hound- 
ed by  detectives,  and,  although  innocent,  he  felt  that 
hi1,  only  safety  was  in  uniting  his  fortunes  with  Jesse 
and  his  fearless  band.  This  being  accomplished,  Shep- 
herd was  to  find  opportunity  for  killing  Jesse  James, 
and  the  reward  for  him,  dead  or  alive,  was  to  be  di- 
vided. In  addition  to  this,  Shepherd  was  to  be  pro- 
vided with  a  horse  aand  to  receive  $50  per  month 
during  the  time  of  his  service. 

The  conditions  and  terms  were  satisfactory  to  Shep- 
herd, and  the  latter  part  of  October,  about  two  we^ks 


DEEDS   OF   DAEIXG 


133 


after  the  Glendale  robbery,  he  started  out  in  quest  of 
Jesse  James. 

The  plan  of  Shepherd's  operations  and  the  manner 
in  which  he  accomplished  his  hazardous  undertaking 
is  herewith  detailed  just  as  he  related  the  story  to  the 
writer,  but,  while  the  relation  is  interesting,  it  is  now 
proved  to  be  untrue  in  part. 

When  Shepherd  left  Kansas  City  he  was  armed 
with  several  revolvers  and  a  dagger.  He  rode  direct 
to  the  home  of  Jesse  James  and,  telling  a  concocted 
story,  managed  to  arrange  a  meeting  with  the  gang 
in  the  woods  near  by.  He  was  duly  installed  as  a 
member  of  the  James  gang,  and  his  first  assignment 
was  reconnoitering  a  proposed  bank  robbery  at  Em- 
pire City,  to  which  place  he  preceded  the  gang.  Upon 
his  arrival  he  found  the  bank  lighted  up  and  a  dozen 
men  inside  armed  with  rifles  and  shotguns.  Shep- 
herd at  once  suspected  that  the  news  he  had  imparted 
to  the  authorities  had  been  acted  upon. 

Finding  everything  in  readiness  to  meet  the  in- 
tended attack,  Shepherd  went  into  a  restaurant,  and, 
while  eating  his  supper,  Tom  Cleary,  an  old  acquaint- 
ance, greeted  him.  After  supper  the  two  went  to 
Geary's  house  and  remained  all  night,  and  Shepherd 
told  his  friend  the  part  he  was  acting  in  the  effort  to 
capture  Jesse  James.  Ed  Cleary,  a  brother  of  Tom, 
was  also  informed  of  the  scheme,  and  Shepherd  asked 
their  assistance,  or,  at  least,  to  follow  him  the  next 
moming  to  the  camp  of  the  bandits.  The  understand- 


134  JAMES   BOYS 

ing  was  at  the  time  Shepherd  left  the  outlaws  that  he 
should  return  to  the  camp  by  9  o'clock  Sunday  morn- 
ing, and,  if  his  report  was  favorable,  the  raid  on  the 
bank  would  be  made  Sunday  night. 

Shepherd  kept  the  appointment  and  returned  to 
the  place  where  the  bandits  had  encamped,  but  found 
the  camp  deserted.  He  thought  this  strange,  but  soon 
found  the  old  sign  of  a  "turn  out"  had  been  made  to 
let  him  know  where  they  were.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  James  boys  and  their  comrades  frequently 
separated.  They  had  a  sign,  however,  by  which  it  was 
not  difficult  for  them  to  find  one  another,  and  he  soon 
joined  the  gang  just  outside  the  town  to  find  that  they 
were  already  aware  the  bank  was  guarded.  They 
asked  him  how  about  it,  but  he  professed  ignorance 
of  who  had  tipped  off  the  intended  raid,  and  sug- 
gested they  get  out  of  the  locality  as  soon  as  possible. 
This  was  agreed  upon,  and  they  rode  away. 

When  they  reached  a  point  twelve  miles  south  of 
Galena,  all  parties  maintaining  their  respective  posi- 
tions, Shepherd  gave  a  smart  jerk  of  the  bridle  rein, 
which  caused  his  horse  to  stop,  while  Jesse  rode  on. 
It  was  the  work  of  an  instant,  for  as  Jesse's  horse 
gained  two  steps  forward  Shepherd  drew  one  of  his 
large  pistols  and,  without  speaking  a  word,  fired,  the 
ball  taking  effect  in  Jesse's  head  one  inch  behind  the 
left  ear.  Only  the  one  shot  was  fired,  for  Shepherd 
saw  the  result  of  his  show,  nd  Jesse  plunged  head- 
long from  his  horse  and  lay  motionless  on  the  ground, 


DEEP?   «     '   DARING  13?, 

as  if  death  had  been  instantaneous.  Shepherd  says  he 
viewed  the  body  for  nearly  a  minute  beiore  either  of 
the  outlaws  made  any  demonstration.  Ed  Miller  first 
started  toward  him  in  a  walking  pace,  and  then  Cum- 
mings and  the  unknown  drew  f.eir  pistols  aand  rode 
swiftly  after  him.  Shepherd's  horse  was  swift,  and 
he  put  him  to  the  greatest  speed,  soon  distancing  the 
unknown.,  lout  Cummings  was  mounted  on  a  superior 
animal,  and  the  chase  for  three  miles  was  a  hot  one. 
Each  of  the  two  kept  firing,  but  the  rapid  rate  at 
which  they  were  riding  made  the  shots  ineffectual. 
Seeing  that  he  was  pursued  only  by  Cummings,  who 
was  gaining  on  him,  Shepherd  stopped  and  wheeled 
his  horse,  and  at  that  moment  a  bullet  struck  him  in 
the  left  leg  just  below  he  knee,  producing,  however, 
only  a  flesh  wound.  As  Cummings  dashed  up  Shep- 
herd took  deliberate  aim  and  fired,  and  Cummings 
reeled  in  the  saddle,  turned  his  horse  and  retreated. 
Shepherd  says  he  feels  confident  that  he  struck  Cum- 
mings hard  in  the  side  and  that  he  killed  Jesse  James. 
He  rode  back  to  Galena,  where  he  remained  two 
weeks  under  a  surgeon's  care,  aand  after  recovery  re- 
turned to  Kansas  City. 

As  it  afterward  proved,  the  bullet  only  grazed  Jesse 
James'  skull  and  knocked  him  senseless  from  his 
horse.  It  did  not  even  penetrate  the  skull,  and  he 
soon  recovered  from  the  injury. 


JAMES   BOYS 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
MYSTERIOUS     ROCK     ISLAND     ROBBERY. 

HOW  THE  JAMES  BOYS  RIFLED  AN  EXPRESS  CAR  WITH- 
OUT CREATING  MUCH  EXCITEMENT  UNTIL  IT  WAS 
ALL  OVER  AND  HOW  THEY  GOT  AWAY  WITH  A  LOT 
OF  RICH  PLUNDER. 

The  James  brothers  and  their  gang  were  not 
alone  noted  for  bold  and  desperate  hold-ups  and 
train  robberies,  but  they  have  been  credited,  as 
well,  with  a  number  of  robberies  that  were  accom- 
plished with  remarkable  stealth  and  quietude.  Like 
the  bold  lion  in  some  of  their  robberies,  taking  all 
sorts  of  chances  of  being  shot  or  captured,  they 
were  like  the  treacherous  leopard  in  others,  took 
comparatively  no  chances,  and  had  finished  the 
job  almost  before  anyone,  even  in  the  train,  real- 
ized what  had  happened.  They  were  brazenly 
bold  or  almost  cowardly  stealthy,  it  seems,  as  the 
occasion  demanded  or  their  fancy  dictated., 

The  following  ^tory  of  the  robbery  on  the  Rock 
Island  road  will  give  an  idea  of  how  quietly  and 
mysteriously  some  of  their  robberies  were  accom- 
plished. One  cold,  snowy  night  in  March,  1886, 


DEEDS  OF  DARING 


137 


the  Kansas  express,  running  over  the  Rock  Island 
road,  started  westward  from  Chicago.  The  train 
was  heavier  than  usual  that  night. 

Coupled  on  in  front  of  the  regular  passenger 
coaches  the  train  carried  two  express  cars,  the  first 
one  given  over  entirely  to  express,  mostly  through 
matter,  and  the  other  to  express  and  baggage. 

The  first  car  was  in  charge  of  Messenger  Kellogg 
Nichols,  a  man  of  middle  age,  who  had  spent 
twenty  years  in  the  service  of  the  express  company. 
The  combined  baggage  and  express  car  was  in  charge 
of  Baggageman  Newton  Watt,  who  previous  to  his 
trip  had  been  head  brakeman  of  the  train  and  who 
had  taken  the  place  of  the  regular  baggageman, 
who  was  ill.  The  rear  brakeman,  a  young  fellow 
named  Henry  Swartz,  became  front  brakeman  for 
the  trip. 

Both  the  express  and  combination  car  had  doors 
on  either  end,  besides  the  large  sliding  doors  on 
the  sides,  but  the  front  part  of  Messenger  Nichols* 
car  was  blocked  with  packages.  The  second  car, 
besides  carrying  additional  local  express  fi  eight, 
also  contained  Messenger  Nichols'  safe,  a  small 
iron  trunk  with  a  peculiar  lock,  the  key  of  which 
Nichols  carried  in  his  pocket  attached  to  a  chain, 
according  to  regulations. 

The  safe  was  known  to  contain  a  considerable 
*nm  of  money.  The  messenger  had  referred  to 
ihe  £act  in  checking-  out  his  run,  remarking  jok- 


13*.  JAMES    BOYS 

ingly,  as  he  deposited  a  bulky  money  package  in  it: 
in  it: 

"If  I  had  that  I  wouldn't  work  tonight.  I'd 
take  a  day  off." 

The  duties  of  the  messenger  required  him  to 
work  in  both  cars,  but  the  heaviest  part  of  his  work 
was  in  the  front  car,  where  he  repaired  to  check 
up  his  run  as  soon  as  they  pulled  out  of  the  Chi- 
cago depot,  leaving  Baggageman  Watt  to  look 
after  the  combination  car. 

After  passing  Blue  Island,  the  next  regular  stop 
was  at  Joliet,  about  forty  miles  from  Chicago. 
Here  some  express  matter  was  put  off,  and  shortly 
before  1  o'clock  on  that  stormy  March  morning 
the  train  proceeded  on  toward  Morris,  a  run  of 
about  forty-seven  minutes. 

Minooka  was  between  Joliet  and  Morris,  but  it 
was  not  a  stopping  point  for  this  train.  The  en- 
gine merely  slowed  up  on  a  heavy  grade  outside  the 
town,  whistled  for  the  station,  and  gathering  speed 
again,  thundered  onward  to  Morris. 

Thirty  minutes  later  the  snow-covered  train 
rolled  into  the  station.  Conductor  Wagner  dropped 
off  the  train  and  came  forward  to  get  his  orders 
with  the  engineer.  S\vartz,  the  head  brakeman, 
also  jumped  down,  and  at  the  same  time  an  ap- 
parition in  the  shape  of  Watt,  the  baggageman, 
disheveled,  stammering,  staring  as  if  he  had  seen 
a  ghost,  burst  upon  the  astonished  conductor. 

"Great  God/    he  cried  w  terror,  with  his  eyes 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  139 

almost  bulging  out  of  his  head.  "Look  in  there. 
The  safe  all  gone  and  papers  all  over  the  car?" 
The  man  was  almost  insane  with  fright  and  sur- 
prise and  could  hardly  talk,  yet  he  managed  to 
mutter  something  about  Messenger  Nichols  and 
swung  his  lantern  into  the  car,  calling  him  by 
name  and  looking  for  him.  By  this  time  the  con- 
ductor and  others  of  the  train  crew  came  forward 
and,  entering  the  car,  began  a  search  for  the  miss- 
ing messenger.  They  found  his  dead  body  in  the 
forward  part  of  the  car,  under  a  great  pile  of  dis- 
ordered express  matter.  His  head  had  been  bat- 
tered in  as  with  an  iron  bar,  his  left  arm  was 
broken  at  the  wrist,  probably  with  the  same  blud- 
geon as  he  fought 'to  ward  off  the  blow  that  killed 
him,  and  a  bullet  hole  was  found  in  his  shoulder. 

Obviously  it  was  the  blows  on  the  head,  in- 
flicted, apparently,  with  some  blunt  instrument, 
that  had  caused  the  death  of  the  unfortunate  mes- 
senger. 

There  was  evidence  of  a  terrible  struggle.  Up 
and  down  the  car,  on  the  floor  and  sides  and  over 
the  express  packages,  blood  was  spattered  right 
and  left.  Whomsoever  the  messenger  had  fought, 
the  conflict  must  have  been  desperate  in  the  extreme. 

It  seemed  incomprehensible  that  this  short,  slen- 
der little  man  of  forty,  wounded  and  battered  as 
he  must  have  been,  could  have  been  so  tenacious 
unless  it  was  plain  to  him  that  he  was  fighting  for 
his  life.  That  there  must  have  been  more  than  one 


I4O  JAMES   BOYS 

assailant  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  clenched 
hands  of  the  messenger  were  found  locks  of  different 
colored  hair,  stained  now  with  the  messenger's 
blood. 

The  messenger's  safe  had  been  blown  open  and 
looted,  all  the  money  and  valuables  having  been  taken 
and  the  papers  thrown  all  over  the  car.  The  loss  was 
about  $25,000.  When  the  confusion  of  the  first  sur- 
prise had  somewhat  abated,  the  baggageman  was  asked 
to  tell  his  story,  and  related  the  following  remarkable 
experience,  which  goes  to  show  the  wonderful  quick- 
ness and  surprise  with  which  the  robbery  was  accom- 
plished. The  run  was  new  to  him  and  he  had  been 
unusually  closely  engrossed  in  his  work  for  that 
reason. 

In  the  noise  of  the  train  and  storm  he  had  heard 
nothing  unusual  until  the  engine  whistled  for  Minoo- 
ka.  The  moment  after  the  barrel  of  a  revolver  was 
poked  over  his  shoulder  against  the  side  of  his  head. 
Glancing  up  with  a  start,  he  saw  a  mafr  standing  be- 
hind him,  his  face  covered  with  a  mask. 

"If  you  move  before  this  train  gets  to  Morris/'  the 
man  said,  "you'll  get  your  head  blown  off  by  thaffcian 
up  there." 

Watt  looked  up  at  the  ventilator  in  the  roof  of  the 
car.  A  hand  holding  a  big  pistol  was  poked  through 
the  vei  \tilator,  the  pistol  pointing  down  at  the  bag- 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  141 

gageman.     Then  he  realized  thai  there  was  another 
robber  on  the  roof  of  the  £.1'. 

Sitting  there  under  the  threatening  m'izzle  of  the 
big  gun,  he  heard  the  robber  behind  him  unlock  and 
empty  the  express  safe. 

"I  couldn't  give  the  alarm,"  Watt  said.  "They 
swore  they  would  kill  me  if  I  moved.  They  must  have 
gone  to  the  front  car  and  taken  the  safe  key  away 
from  Nichols  before  they  came  back  to  me. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  murdered  messenger's  key 
with  the  snapped  chain  was  in  the  safe-lock. 

Watt  sat  still  under  the  revolver  until  the  train 
reached  Morris.  When  the  engine  whistled  for  that 
station  he  noticed  suddenly  that  the  hand  and  gun 
had  been  withdrawn  from  the  ventilator  in  the  roof, 
and  turning  cautiously,  he  found  himself  alone  in  the 
car  with  the  front  door  closed. 

Then  he  immeddiately  gave  the  alarn  to  Conductor 
Wagner,  who  was  with  Swartz,  the  head  brakeman. 
Of  the  fight  in  the  express  car  and  the  murder  of 
Nicbols  he  had  had  no  intimation  until  the  train 
stopped. 

It  was  one-thirty-five  when  the  train  reached  Mor- 
ris. By  two  o'clock  the  town  was  aroused,  all  the 
passengers  were  up,  and  the  stattion  was  crowded 
with  excited  -men,  while  telegrams  and  orders  were 
flying  back  and  forth  between  Morris  and  Chicago. 

The  local  police,  the  railroad  detectives  and  the 
Pinkerton  men  were  quickly  on  the  trail  of  the  rob- 


142  TAMES   BOYS 

bers.  but  they  failed  to  capture  them  even  after  the 
most  strenuous  efforts,  although  the  evidence  clearly 
Droved  it  was  another  "trick"  turned  by  the  James 
buvs. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
THE  JAMES  BOYS  AS  GAMBLERS. 

DESPERATE  POKER  PLAYERS,  WHO  STAKED  THEIR  LAST 
DOLLAR  EVERY  TIME  AND  LOST  THOUSANDS — THIS 
WAS  WHERE  MUCH  OF  THEIR  STOLEN  PLUNDER  WENT. 
KNOWN  TO  HAVE  LOST  $25,OOO  IN  A  SINGLE  NIGHT'S 
PLAYING. 

Like  many  more  criminals,  the  James  boys  were  in- 
veterate gamblers.  They  lost  over  gaming  tables  in 
all  parts  of  the  country,  nearly  all  the  money  they  ac- 
cumulated, and  never  made  a  protest  when  the  game 
was  fair.  They  have  been  known  to  part  with  $25,000 
in  a  night  without  a  word,  but  on  other  occasions  have 
turned  the  gambling  rooms  into  a  shambles  when  they 
suspected  the  cards  had  been  stacked  on  them  or  other 
unfair  advantage  taken  of  them.  They  would  bet  on 
anything,  and  when  no  other  opportunity  for  gam- 
bling offered  have  been  known  to  place  a  lump  of 
sugar  on  the  table  in  front  of  each  person  and  bet 
hundreds  of  dollars  as  to  which  one  a  fly  would  light 
on  first.  They  always  boasted  this  game  was  abso- 
lutely square,  as  ther*  could  be  no  collusion  with  the 


144  JAMES   BOYS 

flies.  It  was  one  of  their  favorite  diversions.  Tiieir 
uncle  was  owner  and  proprietor  of  the  Paso  Robel 
Hotel,  at  Hot  Springs,  Nev,  and  there  they  went 
to  gamble  and  recuperate.  They  became  friendly 
with  everybody,  and  visitors  from  all  over  the  country 
little  suspected  the  two  gentlemanly  young  men  were 
the  most  desperate  and  notorious  robbers  the  world 
had  ever  known.  After  a  time  their  health  greatly 
improved,  and  feeling  they  might  wear  their  welcome 
out,  or,  in  other  words,  that  their  real  character  might 
be  discovered,  they  decided  to  go  further  west,  with 
California  as  their  ultimate  destination. 

Moreover,  just  at  that  time  the  newspapers  of  the 
Pacific  Coast  were  filled  with  thrilling  accounts  of 
daring  robberies  by  "road  agents"  who  infested  the 
mountain  passes  of  California,  Nevada  and  Colorado. 
These  accounts  were  read  with  avidity  by  Frank  and 
Jesse  James  in  their  quiet  retreat  at  their  uncle's  hotel. 
The  old  desperado  spirit  was  reawakened  within  them, 
and  they  began  to  look  back  upon  their  three  months 
of  indolent  rest  as  just  so  much  of  their  lives  thrown 
away.  The  fever  of  unrest  burned  on  in  their  veins 
until  it  drove  them  forth  into  the  mountains  in  search 
of  adventure.  Burnishing  up  their  old-time  trusty 
friends — their  ever- faithful  revolvers — they  buckled 
on  their  fighting  paraphernalia  and  sallied  forth  into 
the  mountain  passes,  prepared  for  any  sort  of  adven- 
ture that  might  happen  to  turn  up.  When  we  remem- 
ber that  the  mining  camps  of  that  region  were  filled 
with  reckless  adventurers,  cut-throats  and  gamblers, 


DEEDS   OF  DARING  145 

it  is  not  at  all  surprising  tnat  Frank  and  Jesse  James 
did  not  have  far  to  go  before  they  found  all  the  ex- 
citement and  adventure  they  wanted. 

One  bright,  sunshiny  morning  Frank  and  Jesse, 
with  two  of  their  old  guerrilla  comrades  from  Mis- 
souri, whom  they  chanced  to  fall  in  with,  took  a  jour- 
ney into  the  region  of  the  Sonoma  Mountains,  where 
a  small  tributary  of  the  Humbolt  river  cuts  the  foot 
hills  of  the  range.  There  was  a  new  encampment 
called  "Battle  Mountain."  And,  to  use  the  emphatic 
language  of  these  four  Missouri  boys,  they  thought 
they  would  break  the  monotony  of  life  by  going  to 
Battle  Mountain  "just  to  shake  up  the  encampment." 

These  camping  to.wns  spring  up  as  if  by  magic,  and 
very  often  just  as  readily  pass  from  sight.  So  that 
now  the  traveler  in  these  mountain  regions  comes 
often  upon  the  relics  of  a  deserted  hamlet  which  has 
been  simply  left  to  rot,  when  the  gold  played  out  and 
the  gang  moved  further  on.  Hard  work  by  day  and 
by  night,  women,  whiskey  and  cards  is  the  daily  rou- 
tine of  these  mushroom  towns.  One  of  these  dugout 
villages  was  known  as  Battle  Mountain,  and  it  was 
well  named,  for  battles  with  Colt  revolvers  were  the 
nightly  program,  and  gambling  and.  every  other  form 
of  dissipation  were  the  favorite  diversions.  Into  this 
town. — if  such  it  may,  by  courtesy,  be  called — the 
James  boys  stumbled,  and,  of  course,  determined  to 
"buck  the  tiger."  They  did  not  drink  and  were 
proud  of  their  skill  with  cards.  One  fatal  night  they 
were  playing  in  the  ^"Golden  Rule"  gambling  hall 


146  JAMES  BOYS 

about  the  stiffest  poker  game  they  had  ever  engaged 
in.  The  table  was  laden  with  bags  of  gold  and  thou- 
sands of  dollars  were  passing  fo  and  fro  with  the 
varying  fortunes  of  the  cards. 

The  gambler  was  about  to  remark  something  or 
other  when  his  opponent  cut  him  short  by  saying: 
"I  discarded  a  king;  when  the  cut  for  your  deal  was 
made  the  bottom  card  was  exposed.  It  was  a  king. 
You  got  your  third  king  from  the  bottom.  You  must 
not  do  that  again." 

"You  lie !"  retorted  the  gambler,  with  a  gleam  of 
murder  in  his  eyes. 

Immediately  all  was  confusion  in  the  room.  An 
ominous  calm  prevailed  for  a  moment,  while  all  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  the  excited  players.  Then  Jesse  rose 
to  the  emergency.  Cheating  had  been  charged  and 
the  lie  given  direct.  This  meant  death  to  one  or  the 
other  of  the  parties  concerned.  Jesse's  ready  revolver 
decided  that  it  should  not  be  his  friend.  While  the 
excited  gambler  was  fumbling  for  his  weapen  Jesse's 
trusty  pictol  craced  twice,  and  the  murder-plotting 
gambler  fell  dead  on  the  floor.  Lightning  quick  the 
partner  of  the  slain  gambler  made  a  lunge  at  Jesse 
with  a  dirk,  but  with  a  quick  movement  Jesse  avoided 
the  knife,  swung  round  his  ready  revolver,  cracked 
away  at  the  gambler,  and  literally  blew  the  entire  top 
of  his  head  off. 

Pandemonium  reigned  at  once.  With  a  wild  yell 
the  excited  gamblers  made  a  rush  for  Jesse  and 
his  companions. 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  147 

"Back,  you  devils,  back !"  cried  Jesse.  The  wild 
mob  wavered  for  a  moment,  the  lights  went  out,  and 
Jesse  and  his  comrade  under  the  cover  of  darkness 
made  a  dash  for  the  door. 

Once  outside  they  turned  and  fired  a  volley  into  the 
midst  of  the  howling-  mob  of  pursuers.  Two  men 
dropped  dead  and  three  were  mortally  wounded. 
Some  one  struck  a  light.  The  scene  that  the  mob  of 
demoralized  gamblers  gazed  upon  made  the  blood  cur- 
dle in  their  veins.  Three  men  lay  dead  upon  the  floor, 
and  five  others,  fearfully  wounded,  were  groaning 
and  cursing  by  their  side.  Half -drunken  women,  sob- 
ered by  the  ghastly  sight,  were  screaming  like  bel- 
dams. For  a  while  those  of  the  gamblers  who  had  es- 
caped death  or  wounding  at  the  hands  of  the  Missour- 
ians  were  too  utterly  dazed  by  the  sight  of  their  dead 
and  wounded  comrades  sweltering  in  pools  of  blood 
to  take  any  action  for  revenge.  Suddeny  one  of  the 
gambers  shouted: 

"Now,  boys,  for  vengeance.  Let's  follow  them  to 
hell  if  necessary!"  and  with  a  yell  of  revenge  ten  stal- 
walt  gamblers  put  off  in  hot  pursuit  of  the  plucky 
Missourians. 

The  moon  was  shining  brightly  down  upon  the  path 
of  the  fleeing  ex-guerillas,  and  the  maddened  gam- 
blers, made  desperate  by  the  death  of  their  comrades, 
followed  close  and  sure  upon  the  heels  of  the  fugitives. 

About  a  mile  away  they  overtook  the  four  green- 
horns from  Missouri,  as  they  considered  the  James 
boys  and  their  two  friends  to  b*,  and  with  a  wild  yell 


»4#  JAMES   BOYS 

of  triumph  dashed  forward  aird  demanded  their  sur- 
render. "Surrender  nothing1!"  cried  Jesse,  and,  turn- 
ing to  his  comrades,  he  said :  "Let  her  go,  boys !"  and 
instantly  four  revolvers  flashed  in  the  moonlight  and 
three  more  Battle  Mountain  gamblers  joined  the  com- 
pany of  their  departed  comrades  in  the  happy  hunting 
grounds  of  disembodied  shades.  The  seven  remaining 
gamblers  turned  to  retreat,  but  the  ready  revolvers  of 
the  Missourians  flashed  forth  again,  and  two  more  of 
the  Battle  Mountain  desperadoes  fell  to  the  earth 
wounded.  The  five  others  were  glad  to  escape  with 
their  lives  and  whole  skins.  Jesse  lost  his  hat  in  the 
encounter  and  one  of  the  ex-guerillas  had  a  finger 
shot  off. 

With  these  slight  exceptions  no  damage  was  done  to 
the  brave  quartet  of  Missourians,  who  had  demon- 
strated their  ability  to  do  what  they  set  out  to  do. 

A  man's  life  was  as  nothing  when  it  stood  in  the 
way  of  Frank  or  Jesse  Jams.  The  knowledge  of  this 
fact  by  the  people  constituted  the  James  boys'  most 
perfect  safeguard. 

But  on  their  return  trip  from  California  the  bandit 
brothers  departed  from  their  usual  custom  and  trav- 
eled together.  They  had  lived  like  gentlemen  so  long 
at  their  good  old  uncle's  Hot  Sulphur  Springs  Hotel 
that  they  became  ?>mewhat  socialized  and  concluded 
not  to  abandon  their  new  ir"  ''e  ~f  life  completely  just 
yet  awhile. 

Frank  and  Jesse,  you  may  imagine,  traveled  as  first- 
class  passengers.  They  had  not  exh~asted  their  sup- 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  140 

i 

ply  of  greenbacks  and  gold  obtained  by  them  in  their 
Russellviile  raid,  and  they  proposed  to  experience 
something  of  the  luxury  of  trans-continental  travel.  In 
this  way  they  were  thrown  into  the  society  of  wealthy 
people  traveling  for  the  benefit  of  their  health,  and 
experienced  no  difficulty  whatever  in  passing  for 
well-bred  gentlemen  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

They  stopped  over  at  Denver  for  a  few  days,  and 
while  there  Frank  was  reconized  by  an  ex-detective 
from  Missouri  named  Ballintine.  Ballintine  was  not 
inclined  to  let  Frank  James  know  that  he  understood 
who  he  was,  but  the  latter  stepped  to  the  ex-detective 
on  the  street  and,  extending  his  hand,  said:  "Shake 
hands,  my  friend.  Like  myself,  you  seem  to  be  hav- 
ing a  'lay-off'  from  your  usual  occupation.  Can't  you 
join  Jesse  and  me  in  doing  Denver  for  a  day  or  two  ?" 
The  result  was  that  Ballentine,  who  was  a  little  hard 
up  just  then,  was  treated  to  as  jolly  a  three  days'  and 
nights'  dissipation  as  he  ever  experienced  in  all  his 
life.  All  the  places  of  amusement,  both  reputable  and 
disreputable,  were  visited  by  the  trio,  and,  as  the  soci- 
ety reporter  for  a  country  newspaper  sometimes  says 
of  a  Sunday-school  picnic,  "A  nice  time  was  had." 

It  is  said  by  some  who  pretend  to  know  what  they 
are  talking  about  that  Jesse  even  went  so  far  in  his 
good  natured  bantering  as  to  make  a  visit  to  the  de- 
tectives' headquarters  and  ask  for  a  job,  but  thia  seems 
hardly  probable,  for  a  chance  recognition  by  any  of 
the  Pinkerton  force  would  certainly  have  resulted  ki 
Je^e's  arrest.  Jesse,  of  course,  knew  this,  and  as  he 


550  JAMES   BOYS 

was  no  fool,  it  is  not  likely  that  he  took  any  sucn 
reckless  chances. 

After  enjoying  themselves  to  their  hearts'  content  in 
Chicago,  the  James  boys  went  to  Missouri  to  visit 
their  mother.  Of  course,  their  conduct  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  their  old  crimes  was  not  so  open  and 
above  board  as  while  on  their  travels,  but  they  felt 
perfectly  safe  at  home,  where  their  faithful  and  af- 
fectionate mother  was  ever  on  the  alert  against  sur- 
prise. 

The  James  boys  were  not  altogether  idle  while  at 
home,  for  they  were  thinking  of  new  ways  and  means 
for  replenishing  their  pretty  well  exhausted  treasury. 
After  a  few  days'  rest  they  retired  to  their  Jackson 
county  cave,  where  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  a 
number  of  their  old  fellow-bandits,  they  speedily  ar- 
ranged a  plan  of  campaign  for  another  bank  robbery. 


DF^DS   C       DARING 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


ONE  OF  THE  FEW  GOOD  ACTS  OF  THEIR  BLACK  CAREERS. 
THEY  BOLDLY  ATTACK  A  BAND  OF  INDIANS,  AND  AT 
THE  RISK  OF  THEIR  OWN  LIVES  SAVE  AN  IMMIGRANT 
PARTY  CROSSING  THE  PLAINS. 

Black  as  was  their  career  the  James  boys  are  enti- 
tled to  the  credit  for  at  least  one  good  deed,  on  the 
theory  that  the  devil  is  entitled  to  his  due.  This  not- 
able instance  of  the  fact  that,  despite  their  badness, 
some  good  still  existed  in  their  make-up  occurred  in 
Colorado.  They  were  trailing  slowly  along  one  day 
when  news  came  that  the  Indians  were  on  the  war- 
path and  they  had  best  keep  a  sharp  lookout.  A  few 
hours  later  they  discovered  traces  of  Indians  ahead  of 
them,  which,  together  with  the  presence  of  wagon 
tracks,  plainly  showed  them  that  the  murderous  red- 
skins were  trailing  the  immigrant  party  to  murder 
them  all  and  steal  their  "outfit. 

"Can  we  make  it?"  asked  Frank. 

"We've  got  to  make  it,"  replied  Jesse,  with  more 
than  usual  feeling.  "Think  of  them  poor  women  and 
kids." 

They  dug  their  spurs  into  cheir  horses  and  rode  like 
demons.  On  the  way  they  picked  up  several  other 


153          Jesse  James  Saves  Women  from  Indians. 


DEEDS    OF   DA 


153 


plainsmen,  who  joined  them.  Ere  long  they  came  in 
sight  of  the  distant  band  of  pursuing  Indians.  It  :on- 
sisted  of  fourteen  warriors,  and  they  were  slowly  but 
surely  closing  in  on  the  single  wagon  of  the  prairie 
schooner  type.  Rounding  a  point  in  the  trail  they  saw 
the  Indians  preparing  to  attack  the  settlers. 

Throwing  themselves  out  of  the  saddles  and  grasp- 
ing their  revolvers,  they  started  on  a  run  with  a  yell 
as  fearful  as  any  red  devil  of  them ;  they  threw  them- 
selves  among  the  yelling  fiends.  Panic-stricken  and 
confused,  as  one  after  another  bit  the  dust  at  the 
crack  of  the  ready  revolvers,  the  terrified  savages 
scattered  in  all  directions.  A  covered  wagon  stood  in 
their  way  and  the  James  boys  could  not  see  what  was 
going  on  in  the  camp,  but  hearing  a  child  scream  out 
as  if  in  its  death  agony,  Jesse,  with  a  six-shooter  in 
either  hand,  sprang  under  the  wagon  and  crawled  out 
on  the  other  side. 

Two  big  Indians  were  doing  deadly  work.  Jes?e 
fired  both  revolvers  in  quick  succession,  emptying 
every  chamber  into  the  two  Apache  devils,  and  then 
rushed  in  to  club  the  life  out  of  them  with  the  butts 
of  his  revolvers,  if  any  yet  remained  in  their  infernal 
red  skins. 

Three  minutes  after  the  music  began  not  a  live  In- 
dian was  in  sight,  and  eight  dead  ones  lay  spread  out 
on  the  ground. 

After  a  breathing  .spell  Frank  and  Jesse  began  to 
lock  about  them.  The  little  girl  that  screamed  was 


154  JAMES  BOYS 

only  slightly  hurt,  having  been  dropped  to  the  ground 
by  the  stalwart  Indian  when  Jesse  shot  him  full  of 
holes.  Two  other  little  children  escaped  unhurt,  as 
did  also  three  women  of  the  party.  The  three  men 
were  all  seriously  wounded.  Frank  and  Jesse  escaped 
without  a  scratch. 

Early  in  December  the  seven  bandits  returned  to 
Missouri,  thinking  that,  as  had  been  usual,  the  ex- 
citement over  their  crimes  had  so  far  subsided  as  to 
permit  them  to  visit  their  old  homes  and  haunts. 
Their  appearance  in  Clay  county,  at  least  the  James 
boys,  was  noted  on  the  2oth  of  January,  1875,  and  re- 
port of  their  return  was  at  once  made  to  Allen  Pinker- 
ton,  who,  after  some  correspondence  with  county  offi- 
cials and  others,  formed  a  plan  for  capturing  the 
bandit* 


DEEDS  OF  DARIN-S  1 55 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
THE  RAID  AND  TRAGEDY  AT  NORTHFIELD. 

THE%  JAMES  AND  YOUNGER  BROTHERS  FORM  A  FOUR 
HANDED  ALLIANCE  AND  SACK  THE  BANK  OF  NORTH- 
FIELD,  MINN.,  WITH  DISASTROUS  RESULTS. 

After  the  long  chain  of  train  and  bank  robberies  the 
James  boys  formed  a:n  alliance  with  the  Younger 
brothers — Cole  arid  James — and  arranged  for  a  raid 
in  the  town  of  Northfield,  Minn.,  which  seemed  to  of- 
fer an  easy  mark  for  a  bank  robbery  and  which  place 
they  had  long  been  considering  as  a  place  for  some 
daring  work  in  the  bandit  line.  The  town  consisted  of 
some  2,000  inhabitants  and  is  located  on  the  Milwau- 
kee and  St.  Paul  railroad.  A  small  stream  runs 
through  the  town,  known  as  the  Cannon  river,  over 
which  is  a  neat  iron  bridge  and  beside  which  are  the 
big  Ames  flour  mills. 

The  town  is  chiefly  noted  for  the  location  of  Carl- 
ton  College,  one  of  the  finest  educational  institutions 
in  the  State. 

Just  before  noon,  on  the  day  of  the  raid,  three  of 
the  bandits  dined  at  Jeft's  restaurant,,  on  the  west  side 
yof  Cannon  river.  After  eating  they  talked  politics, 


156  JAMES   BOYS 

and  one  of  them  offered  to  bet  the  restaurant  man  one 
hundred  dollars  that  the  State  would  go  Democratic. 
The  bet  was  not  taken,  and  they  rode  across  the  bridge 
into  the  business  part  of  the  town,  hitching-  their 
horses  nearly  in  front  of  the  First  National  Bank. 
They  stood  for  some  time  talking  leisurely  near  the 
corner.  Suddenly  there  came  like  a  whirlwind  a  rush 
of  horsemen  over  the  bridge.  There  were  only  three 
of  them,  but  they  made  racket  enough  for  a  regi- 
ment. Riding  into  the  square  with  whoops  and  oaths, 
they  began  firing  revolvers  and  ordering  everybody 
off  the  streets.  Almost  at  the  same  moment  two 
others  rode  down  from  the  west,  carrying  out  a  simi- 
lar progarm.  It  was  a  new  experience  for  Northfield, 
and  for  a  few  minutes  the  slamming  of  front  doors 
almost  drowned  the  noise  of  the  firing. 

At  the  first  sound  of  the  onset  the  three  m«**»  who 
first  entered  town — Jesse  James,  Charley  Pitts  and 
Bob  Younger* — had  walked  quickly  into  the  bank  and 
leaped  nimbly  over  the  counter.  The  cashier,  J.  L. 
Haywood,  was  at  his  place,  and  Frank  Wilcox  and  A. 
E.  Bunker,  clerks,  were  at  their  desks.  All  were  cov- 
ered by  the  revolvers  before  they  apprehended  dag- 
ger. The  robbers  stated  that  they  intended  to  rob  th? 
bank.  The  cashier  was  commanded  to  open  the  safe, 
and  bravely  refused.  The  outer  door  of  the  vault  was 
standing1  ajar,  and  the  leader  stepped  in  to  try  the 
inner  door.  As  he  did  so  Haywood  jumped  forwaifc 
and  tried  tc  shirt  him  in. 

One  of  the  others,  afterwards  found  to  be  Charlie 


t>EEDS  OF  DARING  157 

r 

Pitts,  promptly  arrested  the  movement.  At  this  mo- 
ment Bunker  thought  he  saw  a  chance,  and  so  he 
broke  for  the  back  door.  The  third  robber,  Bob 
Younger,  followed  and  fired  two  shots,  one  of  which 
took  effect  in  the  fugitive's  shoulder.  The  others  then 
insisted  that  Haywood  should  open  the  safe,  and,  put- 
ting a  knife  to  his  throat,  said,  "Open  up,  d •  you, 

or  we'll  slit  you  from  ear  to  ear!"  A  slight  cut  was 
made  to  enforce  the  demand.  Haywood  still  refused. 
Meantime  the  firing  outside  had  commenced,  and  the 
men  then  began  to  cry  out,  "Hurry  up!  It's  getting 
too  hot  here!"  The  three  hastily  ransacked  the  draw- 
ers, and  finding  only  a  lot  of  small  change,  jumped 
over  the  railing  and  r*n  out.  Jesse  James  was  the 
last  to  go,  and  as  he  was  !n  the  act  of  leaping  from 
the  counter  he  saw  Haywood  turn  quickly  to  a  drawer 
as  if  in  the  act  of  securing  a  weapon.  Instantly  the 
outlaw  presented  his  pistol  and  shot  the  brave  cashier 
dead. 

The  bullet  penetrated  the  right  temple  and,  ranging 
downward,  lodged  near  the  base  of  the  brain.  Hay- 
*rood  fell  over  without  a  groan,  a  quantity  of  his 
blood  and  brains  staining  the  desk  as  he  reeled  in  the 
death  fall.  The  shot  which  struck  Bunker  entered  his 
right  shoulder  at  the  point  of  the  shoulder  blade  and 
passed  through  obliquely,  producing  only  a  flesh 
wound. 

As  the  bandits  rushed  into  the  street  they  met  a 
sight  and  reception  quite  unexpected.  Recovering 
from  their  first  surprise,  the  citizens  began  to  exhibit 


158  JAMES   BOYS 

their  pluck,  and  were  ready  to  meet  the  outlaws  half 
way  in  a  deadly  fight.  A  search  for  firearms  was  the 
first  important  step,  and  Dr.  Wheeler,  j .  B.  Hyde,  L. 
Stacey,  Mr.  Manning  and  Mr.  Bates  each  succeeded 
in  procuring  a  weapon,  which  they  expeditiously  put 
into  service.  Dr.  Wheeler,  from  a  corner  room  (No. 
8)  in  the  Dampier  House,  with  a  breech-loading  car- 
bine, took  deliberate  aim  at  one  of  the  bandits  as  he 
was  mounting  and  sent  a  big  slug  through  the  outlaw's 
body.  The  dying  man  fell  outwards  into  the  street.  An 
unknown  Norwegian  who  came  along  the  street  was 
ordered  to  get  out  quick,  but  failing  to  understand  the 
order  was  shot  dead  in  the  street. 

Frank  James  had  a  cloth  around  his  arm  and  was 
holding  one  hand  in  the  other,  the .  blood  dripping 
from  his  fingers,  while  his  horse  was  led  by  a  com- 
rade. This,  of  course,  explains  how  it  happened  that 
they  got  mway  no  faster.  Had  they  abandoned  the 
worst  wounded  ones  to  their  fate,  there  is  little  doubt 
but  that  the  others  would  have  gotten  away  easily 
enough.  As  it  was,  the  story  of  the  chase  abounds  in 
incidents  almost  too  marvelous  for  belief. 

Every  point,  including  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis, 
was  immediately  notified  of  the  robbery  by  telegraph, 
and  police  officers,  detectives  and  sheriffs'  posses  were 
sent  out  after  the  fleeing  bandits  in  such  numbers  that 
it  was  thought  impossible  for  any  of  the  outlaws  to 
escape. 

Very  soon  rewards  were  offered  for  the  apprehen. 
sion  of  the  desperadoes,  which  stimulated  the  already 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  159 

active  hunt.  The  State  offered  $i}ooo  for  the  arrest 
of  the  six  bandits,  which  offer  was  changed  to  $1,000 
for  each  of  the  gang,  dead  or  alive;  $700  was  ofT?:-  ^ 
by  the  North  field  bank  and  $500  by  the  Winona  and 
St.  Peter  Railroad. 

A  posse  of  fourteen  men  overtook  the  bandits  on 
the  night  of  the  nth  in  a  ravine  near  Shieldsville,  and 
fell  back  "after  a  fight  in  which  one  of  the  robbers' 
horses  was  killed.  The  dismounted  rider  was  imme- 
diately taken  up  behind  one  of  the  others  and  the 
band  took  to  the  woods. 

More  than  400  men  turned  out  to  cut  them  off. 
They  got  into  a  patch  of  timber  at  Lake  Elysian  and 
were  run  out  of  it  the  next  day,  and,  though  the  scout- 
ing parties  increased  to  a  thousand,  two  days  later 
the  robbers  had  been  completely  lost. 

The  robbers  got  into  a  belt  of  timber,  and,  going 
through  to  the  other  side,  saw  a  hunting  party  in  a 
wagon,  which  they  made  a  rush  to  capture.  The  men 
in  the  wagon  instantly  presented  their  shotguns,  and 
the  robbers,  taking  them  for  pursuers,  went  back  into 
the  brush.  It  so  happened  that  the  patch  of  timber 
they  had  struck  was  only  about  five  acres  in  extent, 
and  had  bare,  open  ground  all  around  it.  Before  they 
had  discovered  the  disadvantage  of  their  position  the 
people  began  to  flock  in  from  all  directions,  in  wagons, 
on  foot,  on  horseback,  equipped  with  shotguns  and  ri- 
fles. They  soon  established  a  cordon  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men  around  the  patch  and  began  shooting 
into  it  to  drive  the  game  out.  As  the  robbers  paid  no 


l6o  JAMES  BOYS 

attention  to  this,  Sheriff  Glispen  called  for  volunteers 
tc  go  in  and  stir  them  up. 

He  quickly  secured  a  posse  of  determined  men, 
and  the  battle  was  on.  They  raided  the  patch  of 
woods,  and  a  desperate  fight  ensued.  Several  of  the 
robber  band  fell  badly  wounded,  and  two  of  the  sher- 
iff's posse  were  also  laid  low.  Frank  James  was  shot 
in  the  shoulder  and  Cole  Younger  got  a  bullet  through 
the  leg.  His  horse  was  also  killed.  After  several 
days'  fighting,  however,  the  posse  drew  off  and  the 
lobbers  once  more  escaped  and  made  their  way  to 
iheii  respective  homes. 


DEEDS   OF   DARING  IO1 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
THE  FAMOUS  "BLUE-CUT"  TRAIN  HOLD-UI 

HOW  THE   JAMES   BOYS   COMMITTED  A   DARING   ROBBERY 
AND  GOT  AWAY  WITH  A  BIG  BOODLE  IN  QUICK  ORDER. 

One  of  the  James  boys  most  daring  exploits  which 
aroused  the  whole  country  and  caused  more  news- 
paper publicity  than  any  of  their  previous  achieve- 
ments was  the  famous  "Blue  Cut"  train  robbery  on 
the  Chicago  &  Alton  Railroad. 

The  James  boys  and  their  band  of  robbers  had  be- 
come utterly  reckless  of  consequences,  both  to  them- 
selves and  their  victims,  and  seemed  bent  on  deeds 
of  desperation  and  outrage  that  would  throw  all 
former  acts  of  highwaymen  and  bandits  completely 
in  the  shade.  The  murder  of  Westfall  and  McMil- 
lan seemed  to  whet  their  appetitees  for  new  deeds  of 
murder  and  outrage,  and  they  lost  no  time  in  tack- 
ling another  train,  this  time  going  through  the  pas- 
sengers as  well  as  plundering  the  express  cars. 

About  four  miles  east  of  Independence,  Mo.,  where 
the  Missouri  Pacific  Railroad  crosses  over  a  deep  cut 
of  the  Chicago  and  Alton,  is  a  point  known  as  Blue 
Cut.  At  this  point,  on  the  night  of  September  7, 
r88i,  the  James  boys  and  ten  other  bandks 


l62  JAMES   BOYS 

themselves  .and  waited  for  the  night  express  of  the 
Chicago  and  Alton  road  to  loom  in  sight. 

About  9  o'clock  the  express  train  from  Chicago,  in 
charge  of  conductor  Hazelbaker,  came  tearing  along. 
Just  before  plunging  into  the;  deepest  part  of  the  cut 
the  engineer  descried  on  the  track  just  ahead  of  him 
a  pile  of  stones  some  five  or  six  feet  high,  and  of 
course  at  once  reversed  his  engine. 

As  soon  as  the  engine  slowed  down  Jesse  Jamees 
and  four  &i  his  masked  robbers  confronted  the  engi- 
neer with  drawn  revolvers,  and  Jesse  said :  "Step 
down  off  that  engine  or  I  will  kill  you."  The  engi- 
neer lost  no  time  in  complying  with  the  peremptory 
request,  and  was  then  commanded  to  get  up  again 
and  get  the  coal  pick,  which  he  did,  and  was  then, 
together  wtih  his  fireman,  marched  off  to  the  express 
car  and  ordered  to  break  down  the  door.  This  re- 
quest was  also  complied  with  under  the  persuasive  in- 
fluence of  ready  cocked  revolvers. 

The  express  messenger  had  climbed  down  out  of 
his  car  at  the  first  alarm  and  hid  in  the  grass  by  the 
side  of  the  road,  but  the  bandits  swore  they  would 
kill  the  engineer  and  fireman  if  the  messenger  failed 
to  show  up.  The  engineer  called  the  express  mes- 
senger to  come  forth,  which  he  did,  and  entered  the 
car  with  two  of  the  robbers,  who  forced  him  to  open 
the  safe  and  pour  the  contents  into  a  sack. 

The  robbers  were  disappointed  in  not  gettirtg  raorfi 
booty,  and  knocked  the  messenger  down  twice  with 
the  butt  end  of  their  revolvers,  cutting  his  head  in  a 


DEEDS  OF  DARING  163 

fearful  manner.  They  then  marched  the  engineer 
and  messenger  to  the  coaches,  where  they  kept  them 
•Severed  with  revolvers  while  they  robbed  the  pas- 
sengers. 

They^.  began  business  on  the  coaches  by  firing  off  a 
volley  of  revolver  shots  into  the  rcof  and  sides  of  the 
car  and  savagely  shouting :  "Hokh  up  your  hands, 
and  be  prettty  damned  quick  about  it;  we're  going 
through  the  entire  outfit." 

They  held  up  every  passenger  and  robbed  men  and 
women  alike,  including  those  in  the  sleepers,  and  de- 
camped with  a  two-bushel  sack  full  of  money  and 
valuables.  Before  leaving  Jesse  James  stepped  up  to 
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lim  to  "buy himself  a  drink  in  the  morning,"  at  the 
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